The Matters of Pride
by shadow lioness
Summary: This is the story of the lion king except with a different plot. i'm not good at summaries so your gonna have to read it in order to understand what i mean. so R&R even if ya don't like it. pg-13 for language
1. Part one: The prides Chapter one

Okay ya'll my story mi a little different but there is something I have to explain first. I know animals Don't live by human years but in my story they a re living in human years besides if you noticed in the Movie in the song be prepared" scar sings "the decades of denial is simply why I'll be king" anyway you Know the song that provides a hint that they just might be living in human years. And real lions sometimes Don't even live a decade so they live in human years in my story so there. Second…my story strays away from the movie just a little bit…you won't even notice. Well then again you will notice. And last but not least if you haven't noticed in several Disney movies involving Damsels getting married they always get married when they turn sixteen. (Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, and The little mermaid they all got married when they were sixteen and they also seemed a little mature for their age so…since my story is going to be in human years all the good stuff happens when they turn Sixteen…so yeah. Well I hope you like my story and please read and review. This is my first story   
"Tag your it! " Simba yelled. It was a beautiful day outside and Simba, Nala, Taraja, and Kobe were out enjoying the beautiful weather. " Nuh-uh that's not fair, why do you always come after me and Taraja! You never go after Nala!" Kobe protested. "Cuz' me and Simba are a team and we can't go against each other " Nala retorted. "Yeah so stop being such a whiney cub" Simba added " yeah Kobe, why don't you leave the two lovebirds alone." Taraja chimed in sarcastically "they need to get used to each other " " hey Shut up! The two cubs said in unison and with that the cubs tore off through the savanna after Their friends. "Oh those cubs of ours" sarafina said half laughing. " "I swear they are so cute together. I know they will have a long rule over the kingdom when they are older and Nala is such a sweetheart" Sarabi replied " Thank you, she reminds me so much of her father." When Nala was 3 years about to turn 4, old her mother had been queen of the sunrise coalition not to far away from Pride rock which made Nala a princess. Her father, Tauna, was a very wise king like Mufasa and he loved his daughter very much. One day a group of rogue males had caught Tauna and the other two pride males, Lebo and Rugla, off guard and were able to conquer the pride. But Tauna, Lebo, and Rugla were determined to win back their pride and Tauna wasn't about to allow anyone else to touch HIS queen especially his daughter since he was going to be taking back his throne very soon. So he and Sarafina met in secret and he convinced her to leave the pride with Nala until he called her back when he became king again. She agreed and she and Nala Ran off away form their pride and into nobody's land. For a long time they waited. Nala of course didn't know what was going on and for what seemed like months they stayed without the protection of a pride. They had not strayed to far away from the coalition but days turned into months and there was no word from Tauna. Finally she gave up hope and decided it was time to look for a new pride. For days they walked the territory becoming less familiar and the food was growing scarcer. Then she finally saw a chance. After days of searching they walked into a lush savanna there were a few scattered acacia trees, and several pools of water an abundance of animals. In the distance she saw a group of young lionesses stalking a zebra. She had to take this chance this might be a new potential family for her daughter and she. She and Nala Made their way toward the lionesses. By Nala figured out that something was wrong but she didn't ask what. She studied them as she got in for a closer look. There were five lionesses all. They were all very slender and were very dark complected all with brown eyes. There was one lioness that stood out the most. She had a very authoritive look to her.  
  
'She must be their leader but where is their King?' She stayed there for a while debating whether or not to approach the pride.  
  
" Hey!" a small voice yelled from behind them. They turned and saw a small cub about Nala's age staring at them.  
  
"Who are you?" He asked directing his question to the small cub who was feeling very shy at the moment. Nala just stood there staring not knowing whether to answer.  
  
"Simba what are you doing?" another cub a little older asked as he walked up behind them. Behind the other cub three smaller male cubs followed from behind and popped their heads out from behind him and then ran behind Simba.  
  
"Hey your not from our pride. Where are you from?" the older one named Amani asked Sarafina he's was about seven years old and was apparently the leader of the younger cubs.  
  
"My name is Sarafina.and we are looking for a new pride. Do you think you can tell me where your king is?"  
  
"Well King Mufasa, is out on patrol and talking to scar won't do you any good. And queen Sarabi is out hunting. So the only one you can talk to is probably Simba. Hey Simba!" he called out to the young prince but Simba was to busy still trying to get A scared and shy Nala to talk to him.  
  
"Hello anyone in there?" Simba said to Nala with his voice raised a little waving his little paw in front of her face. She just stared at him in response to his gesture. By now the other three cubs were interested in what he was doing and tried to help him in getting her to talk.  
  
" Maybe she can't talk." Kobe, the smallest remarked.  
  
"Simba!" Amani called.  
  
"What?"  
  
"C'mere, this is Sarafina and she wants to know if she can stay with us."  
  
" Yeah she can stay. If you can tell me what's wrong with her." he replied nodding his head in Nala's direction  
  
"why did you ask him?" Sara asked Amani.  
  
"Cuz' Simba is the prince and what he says goes. He's the future king but he don't know that" Nala's ears perked up. A prince. Wasn't she- oh what was that word they used to call her. 'It sounds like the word prince but I think it was called princess' well whatever it was. It was apparent that this other cub was one of those things too and they might have something in common. Finally after about fifteen minutes of not saying anything to these other cubs she finally spoke up  
  
"my name's Nala. What's yours?" A smile grew on Simba's face  
  
"my name's Simba. And this is Amani, Essian, Kobe, and Diallo"  
  
"nice to meet ya!"  
  
"Ya wanna go play with us?"  
  
" What? She can't go play with us she's a girl" Diallo exclaimed.  
  
"Simba!" before Simba could respond his mother, Sarabi called him" it's time to eat."  
  
"C'mon you can come meet my mother" Simba said to Sarafina. They followed toward the group of lionesses they had seen earlier.  
  
"Hey mom"  
  
"Hello son how are you doi-" she stopped short when she saw a strange lioness coming behind her son. "Who are you?" Sarabi asked half growling.  
  
"I'm sorry if I startled you but my daughter and I were exiled from my pride. Our pride got taken over by new kings and my husband who was over thrown told us to leave our pride until he called us back when he regained his throne and months have past by and now I fear the worst. I was hoping that maybe you would allow us to stay on your pridelands. You don't have to acknowledge us as part of your pride I was just hoping that maybe you could allow us to stay on your land for a while or at least till we hear from my husband." Sarabi looked over Sarafina's shoulder and saw her young cub and her own son playing together and enjoying each other's company.  
  
"Well it's not exactly my decision. If it was I would let you stay I understand why you left. But you would have to take it up with my husband Mufasa."  
  
"Take what up with me?" a deep voice from behind them asked.  
  
"Mufasa, this is Sarafina she and her daughter were exiled from their pride and now they have no where to stay. She wants to know if she can stay on our lands until her king calls for her."  
  
"Well how do we know if we can trust you?" Mufasa asked but as she was talking he turned his attention towards his son and her daughter and saw that they were getting along and playing with each other, which was rather odd to him because Simba never liked playing with any of the other female cubs. He thought that girls were weak and he never played with them like he did with the male cubs. But this young girl was different. She and Simba were actually wrestling together and pouncing and what amazed Mufasa was that Simba accepted her so quickly. He had a good feeling about this. He didn't realize that Sarafina had been talking the whole time that he was watching the two cubs trying to persuade him to allow her to stay.  
  
" You can stay with us and be part of our pride for as long as you need. Your probably hungry why don't you eat and get to know the rest of the pride I will see you later."  
  
The other lioness Zaila, Teshia, Mariatu, Jendai, and Kalei welcomed sarafina into the pride while Simba introduced Nala to the rest of the cubs: Amani the oldest and son of Zaila and Jabari of the Dark lands, Safara and Essian son and daughter of Jendai and Ramses of the Great Plains pride, Kobe, Diallo, and Taraja children of Mariatu and Kenyi of the Kube river pride, and Messina and Kia daughters of Kalei and Morthi of The savanna Ridge coalition.  
  
" Sarabi, I was thinking of traveling to my old pride to see if Tauna ever made it back. Do you think I should take Nala with me?"  
  
"Well, Nala hasn't seen her father in so long and if he did make it back I think she has a right to know who her father is. But if he did make it back would you stay there or would you come back here?" Sarabi asked.  
  
" Well, I love it here and I know Nala does too. I don't even think she remembers she was a princess. You and Mufasa have been so good to us for all these years, and Simba and Nala Have such a promising relationship, But I really miss Tauna."  
  
"It's your choice Sara, but just know that you will always be part of our pride." 


	2. Chapter 2

Far away from the pride lands and further away from the sunrise coalition a lone lioness and her cub wandered out of their pride lands and into nobody's land. She had what most would call a leopard figure, not as slender as a lioness but she was still very attractive. Delilah and her young cub, Kaseko, wandered out of the lands of the sunrise coalition to be alone for a while.  
. Ten years before her son Kaseko, was born Delila was walking along the edge of the territory enjoying the warm sunlight. While she was taking a walk she heard a noise coming from behind her as if someone was following her. 'Probably just a meerkat or something' she thought to herself and continued walking. The noise continued stopping whenever she stopped and starting up again when she began to walk. She was becoming rather annoyed and turned around quickly in order to try to catch her stalker red handed. She turned around and nothing.  
  
"I'm sorry if I startled you. I didn't mean to," said a rather gruff voice. Delila turned to face a large lion that was staring back at her. He was Darkly attractive and had a very charming look to him.  
  
"Now what's a pretty thing like yourself doing all the way out here?" he asked smoothly  
  
"I've never seen you around these parts." "I was just taking a walk, I needed to get away from my pride for a while. What pride are you from" she asked.  
  
" I have no pride, I'm a rogue. But I'm not alone though I have two friends of mine who are also rogues. We look out for each other. Where are you from?"  
Delila knew that she really shouldn't have been talking to a rogue. The law for all prides was that females in the pride were to only mate with the pride males but if those males were spoken for they were allowed to mate with pride males of other prides. This law also helped to promote alliances between the different prides and prevented interbreeding. It was forbidden to mate with rogues. The only way to mate with rogues was if they overthrew a king and took over the pride but even so they wouldn't be considered rogues if they over threw a king, they would be the new king. But if a female mated with a rogue while she was still in a pride with its rightful king she would be banished: her and her young cub. That's just the way it was. 'But there's no law against striking up a conversation with a rogue' she thought. And besides this was probably going to be the only exciting thing that was going to happen to her and she could use a new friend.  
  
"I'm from the sunrise coalition not to far from here. Nothing special I guess."  
  
'She's from a pride. Maybe I could use this as my chance to get out of this hellhole' he thought to himself. "Why did you say you needed to get away from them? And I don't believe I got your name"  
  
"I'm kind of the outsider of my pride. They are so pushy always wanting to know if something's wrong. I know they mean well, but it gets annoying after a while. I don't believe I got your name." she replied.  
  
"Touch'. Well if you have to know its Tabari."  
  
"Mine's Delila."  
  
" Well then nice to meet you. I have to go but I'll see you around."  
  
"Okay she replied and with that he ran off. Delila had a new friend.  
  
For the next couple of months they began to meet in secret just as friends. Tabari introduced Delila to the other two rogues, Bahami and Taruni. But it wasn't long before they started having feelings for each other and they eventually decided to mate. Delila din't care if it was against the law. 'I can't take him to my pride though what would they say I would surely get banished but...well... Oh who cares? I don't care what they say or do. They are going to have to kill me if they are going to try to keep me away from them.' she thought. Having feelings for someone was weird for Tabari he had never felt this way before, but that was beside the point. He had to stick with the plan. It was decided that he, Bahami, and Taruni would use their friendship with Delila to overthrow the king of Sunrise coalition and take the pride for their own.  
  
Months passed and Delila found herself pregnant with Tabari's cub and she bore a son and named him Kaseko, The charming one. But the only setback was that she had not yet told the king of her pride, Tauna (who had just recently also had a cub of his own with his wife Sarafina), about Tabari. Now she needed an explanation for the cub and quick. She had not planned on having a cub and she could not afford to become a rogue lioness with a cub, they wouldn't survive. She needed the protection of the pride. When Tauna asked about the father of the cub she told him that 'one day while taking a walk she met a traveling male from the sand dunes coalition who was passing through in order to get to another pride for a visit. They got to talk and on his return from his visit with the other pride he stopped again to visit with her. These visits continued and they fell in love and eventually decided to mate.  
  
"Well why have I never met him?" asked Tauna, "and the last time I checked all of the pride males were spoken for."  
  
" Well, he was but he wasn't married they were just betrothed. But she died in a accident a few days before they were to be married, which was about three years ago." she replied. 'Oh he's going to kill me if he finds out I just lied.' she thought to herself.  
  
"Well where is he now?" Delila was not prepared for this and did not know-how to answer. She began to panic.  
  
"Well...umm. I"  
  
" Oh honey, don't give her the third degree." Sarafina interrupted walking up behind Tauna. Give it a rest. "If I'm tired from watching Nala all day, I'm sure she's just as tired as I am from watching Kaseko."  
  
"Alright we'll talk about it some other time.' He replied and walked off.  
  
"Good night Delila and congratulations." Sarafina said and then followed Tauna out of the cave and back to their own where Nala lay sleeping."  
  
"Good Night." Delila responded and then put her head down with Kaseko between her front paws and drifted off to sleep. After that Tauna never asked about the cubs father again. Delila took Kaseko to see Tabari As much as she could, and he couldn't be happier. He had a son and he loved him which made him want to take over the pride even more, but now there was a set back for him. During a hunt Tabari, Bahami, and Tarumi were stalking a water buffalo and when they attacked the water buffalo one of its horns punctured Bahami on his side leaving him mortally wounded. He died a few hours later. That left Tabari and Tarumi. If they challenged the kings it wouldn't be evenly matched and they wouldn't have a chance with two against three. And what if he lost Delila's secret would be exposed and she would be banished and he might not be around to care for them. With all this in mind he remained as a rogue for another three years and Delila took young Kaseko to visit his rogue father almost everyday. Finally the time had come. Tabari was sneaking around the pride one day and overheard that Rugla; one of the pride males had left the pride for a short time to visit a friend of his in another pride. He had to use this chance with one of the pride males gone he and Tarumi would have a 50/50 chance at getting control of the pride. He decided to go for it He went to find Tarumi and told him the situation. He agreed and they both set off to challenge the kings of the Sunrise Coalition.  
Tauna was resting on a rock waiting for the females to return from the hunt and Lebo was waiting with him lying on the trunk of a large misshapen tree. Sarafina was back in her cave with Nala grooming her also waiting for the others to come back with some food. Delila was out with Kaseko taking a walk and playing in the Savanna. That's when they heard it. A loud roar, which served as a battle cry, stating the challenge to the kings from the two rogues. As Sara ran to the entrance of the cave she could see the figures of the four lions fighting surrounded by a cloud of dust. The rogues had the upper paw because they were able to catch the kings off guard and they were short one fighter. And as quickly as they came the rouges had finished the job, they were the new kings. Tauna and Lebo were sent off walking each wounded not mortally but enough to cause them to surrender their kingdom to the outsiders. The lionesses finally reached the battlefield and tried to fight off the outsiders but to no avail, they had just wasted all of their energy on their hunt and they sadly watched their natural kings walk away defeated.  
Sarafina had watched the whole thing helplessly. When she saw her husband and king walk away defeated her heart sank. What was she to do? She loved him so much and now she would be forbidden to love him because he became a rogue and she would also be forbidden to allow her young daughter, who did not understand what was going on, to see her father anymore. Nala joined her mother's side and witnessed her father walking away with his head down.  
  
"Mama, where is Daddy going?" she asked innocently. Sarafina looked at her daughter with sad eyes  
  
"Daddy is going away for a little while."  
  
"Like Rugla?"  
  
"Yes baby."  
  
"Oh okay, when will he be back?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know Hun." Sara answered sadly. " I don't know."  
Delila heard the roars and went over to where she had last seen the two kings. She saw that the rest of the lionesses were standing in a line in front of them with he king with his back to Delila. But she did not recognize who it was.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked with kaseko walking up behind her. The male turned around to face her and she gasped and backpedaled  
  
"Hello, I'm afraid that your king has been defeated and I am your new king, my name is Tabari" She was perplexed by his words ' why is he talking to me like he doesn't know me' she thought. And then she understood. He was going to stick with their original story they didn't know each other and kaseko wasn't his son, just to be on the safe side. A smile spread over her face to show that she understood and introduced herself formally. The had the rest of the pride bewildered. 'What was wrong with her doesn't she realize our king, our real king, has just been belittled to a rogue.' There was something about these rogues that they just didn't trust and they had a feeling that Delila Knew what that thing was. Sarafina did' go to great the new male for fear of the life of her cub. So she and Nala slipped out of the cave and went outside of the boundaries of their pridelands and into nobody's land. They stayed there for three days until one of the other females; Jesi found her hiding out in the outlands.  
  
"Sara! What on earth are you doing here why aren't you back home?"  
  
"I don't trust them, I can't put my finger on it but I know something's not right."  
  
" You and me both. The rest of us feel the same way and we have a feeling that Delila has something to do with it."  
  
"What do you mean/"  
  
"well the day that they came Delila don't even seem to notice that Tauna was gone she accepted the outsider right away."  
  
" Hmmm.that is strange."  
" Well I can't go back yet. Has he touched Adiel's or Jeddee's cubs?"  
  
"No but I still don't trust him. Maybe you should stay here for a while I'll tell the other' your here and we'll watch out for you."  
  
"Okay thanks you." "No problem" And as quickly as she came she was gone.  
Sara was very lonely that night, with the exception of Nala, but she felt good knowing that her pride was still there for her. Then she heard a rustle in the thick bushes nearby.  
  
"Sarafina?"  
  
"Who's there?" A shadowy figure stepped out of the bushes and into the clearing.  
  
"Tauna, your alive!! Are you alright?" "I've been better what are you doing out here why aren't you at home. Did that bastard banish you?"  
  
"No I Left I didn't rust them and apparent lee neither do the others. And I don't want to be without you."  
  
"Where's Nala?"  
  
"She's sleeping."  
  
" You can't stay here Sara you have to move further out"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because it's okay if they catch me and Lebo around here. But I don't want them to find you or Nala here. But don't worry we are going to get our lands back. Lebo and me decided that as soon as we heal and are strong enough and as soon as Rugla returns we are going to take back what is ours. But I don't know when that will be. I know Rugla should be returning soon but Lebos wounds are much worse then mine are and that will take longer to heal. Those basterd caught us off guard and without Rugla they had the upper hand. I want you to stay away as far as you can when things are back to normal again I will come find you. I promise."  
  
"Well alright, are you sure this will work."  
  
"Yes Sara just go. Tell Nala I love her." He gently kissed her and then ran off to go find Lebo. Sara and Nala took off the next morning and headed further west further then they had ever been before. They found a small area where there were herds of zebra and a small waterhole. Sarafina prayed to the kings of the past to watch over her and her daughter through their troublesome times. Months passed and she had still heard no word from Tauna. Finally Sarafina gave up She and Nala could not go one without the protection and aid of a pride. So many of the times that Sara went hunting she was almost injured by the prey because she hunted alone. The time had come to look for a new pride. So once again she and Nala headed further out west in search of a new family.  
During this time Tabari couldn't be happier. He was a king, He made Delila his queen, and his son was a prince. Things were going his way. But the other lionesses still hadn't accepted him or Tarumi. They obeyed them only because they were the kings but not out of love or respect like they did with Tauna, Lebo and Rugla. Delila had also told her son to not call Tabari Dad while in the presence of the others but to call him "sir". One morning Tabari and Kaseko went walking out while it was still dawn. They played for a while and lie down together in the plains. Father and Son.  
  
" kaseko!! Come here son!"  
  
"You better go your mom is calling."  
  
"Okay dad, Seeya later!" After Kaseko was gone Tabari sat up and looked out at the horizon. It was gorgeous. Yes this was the life: a family, a pride, and a kingdom what more could one ask for. Then his trail of thought was interrupted he heard a low growl coming from behind him. He turned around and like a speeding bullet a large figure lunged out at him and knocked him off his feet. Before he knew it a second figure attacked him and then another clawing into him and biting him. Kaseko heard the fierce roaring in the distance and in fear ran off to tell the others.  
  
"Mama! Mama!! Tabari is in trouble." "  
  
Delila shot up and called to the other lionesses who were really in no hurry and to Tarumi who race to help his fellow King. Tarumi got there first but it was already to late Tabari was already doing his walk of shame mortally wounded. Tarumi attacked the three lions but was no match for their combined strength and he too did his walk of shame. When the lionesses got there the battle was over and they were amazed to see who their new champions were. Tauna, Lebo and Rugla approached them with only a few scratches on each lion. They greeted each other with the traditional head rubbing and celebrated. Delila stopped short she didn't walk up to the three true kings. She stayed behind and went around the pride avoiding them in an effort to find Tabari. When she found him he was laying in a pool of his own blood and she already knew what his outcome would be.  
  
"Tabari..."  
  
"Delila, I'm not going to make it but I love you take care of Kaseko."  
  
"Dad?" Kaseko approached them from behind and looked at his dying father with sad eyes.  
  
"Kaseko, I love you son. When you are of age I want you to avenge me."  
  
"Okay dad." he replied tears forming in his eyes. Even though he didn't know what avenge meant when he found out what it meant he would keep his promise.  
  
"I love you." and then he died. Back at the pride everyone was rejoicing and Delila and Kaseko went to join him or her sadly but they dared not tell their secret to anyone. The lionesses rejoiced with their true kings and when they were done Tauna left them to search for his queen and princess. When he returned he reported that he could not find them and ordered the pride to aid him in searching for them. They searched all over the lands and even further outside of their boundaries in search for their queen. But she was nowhere to be found. Sarafina and Nala were gone. Although Tauna Had won his pride back he would never be the same without his Daughter and Wife. It's ten years later. Tauna, Rugla, And Lebo are still the kings but there is no heir to their throne. Delila was still an outsider in the pride the other lioness never acknowledged the fact that she was ever queen even though for a short period of time And Kaseko still had every intention of keeping his promise to his father.  
  
"Mom."  
  
"Yes son?"  
  
" You know what I must do, right?"  
  
"For what?" "To avenge dad. I must bring down the kings and take over the pride and make it my own in dad's honor. I know what happened. They killed dad if it weren't for them he would still be here. I want to avenge him." Delila looked at her son and heard that he had a kind of Venom in his voice. Then she realized something. For the past 6 years Her son has had to live under the rule of the very males who he knew was responsible for the death of his father and that although he hid it very well he had a deep hatred for them.  
  
"When the time comes."  
  
"When will that be?"  
  
"Soon enough my son." 


	3. Chapter 3

"What!!" Nala exclaimed. "No I was born here. This is my pride. My father was...was... Oh my gosh. Mom why don't I remember who my father is? You never told me about him. Why?" "Nala that is what I am trying to tell you. When we left you were only about three years old you were too young so I understand that you wouldn't remember." " So let me get this straight, when i was three I was part of another pride. Then some rogues defeated my dad and he was thrown out of his kingdom. But wait. If my dad was a king with two other males wouldn't that make me a..." "A princess and me a queen. When the rogues overthrew your father, Tauna, I didn't recognize them as the new kings neither did the other lionesses but they had to stay behind to keep our lands intact. So I left with you and they never knew about me. When I reached the outlands I found your father and he told me to head out further and when he became king again he come and find us to bring us back home. But he never showed up we waited for about 6 months for him and we could of waited longer but we couldn't survive without the protection of a pride especially with a small cub. So I decided that we had to leave and find a new pride. That's when I found Sarabi and Pride rock. she introduced me to Mufasa and ha accepted us when he saw how well you got a long with Simba and he understood our situation." " Well what are you asking me then?" " I'm asking if you to go back with me to see if your father made it back to the Coalition. If he did, I already talked it over with Mufasa and told him that i would want to stay with your father. And if he didn't then i would come back to Pride rock. He said that he would always consider us part of his pride." " I want to go see Dad but i don't want leave pride Rock. This is my home. What about Simba, Mufasa, and my other friends I don't want leave them." "We can visit them anytime you want. I don't want to leave my friends behind either and Mufasa will always welcome us. So what do you say?" "Really??" "Yes." "Alright lets go then!" Nala shouted with her tail flicking around. "Alright we'll leave tomorrow. Right now lets get some sleep."   
  
The next morning Sarafina and Nala awoke to find Mufasa, Sarabi, Simba and the other lionesses and cubs waiting for them outside of Priderock. Mufasa walked up to them first. "Good morning Sarafina. You are always welcome here. I hope you find what your looking for." They did the traditional head rub And Sarabi walked up to Sarafina and put her paw around her neck. "I wish you wouldn't go but I understand...for Nala. Nala you take care of your mother and be sure to come visit us, alright." "Yes maam" Nala turned and saw Simba with his head down and felt a tear start up in her eye. "Bye Nala. I'll miss you." he said with his head still held down. "I'll miss you too, Simba. But don't worry I'll come and visit you and the others every chance I get." He looked up at her and smiled a bit. " You promise?" "Of course, I could never forget you or anybody else." "Alright, I'll be here when you come back and i wanna hear what your new pride is like. If you don't come back I'm gonna go hunt you down." he replied jokingly. " Goodbye Nala. We'll miss you too. And we'll help him hunt you down if you don't visit." Amani added. The rest of the cubs were standing behind him nodding their heads in agreement. "We'll miss you all, and thank you so much for everything." After one final goodbye, Nala and Sarafina left the pridelands in search of their pride.  
  
How long they ran they didn't know. Sarafina was looking at the landforms trying to remember her way back. She had never realized how far away they had gone. Maybe her husband did make it back they had just moved so far that when he searched for her, he never thought to look that far away. Well whatever the case they were on their way home and things were starting to come back to her. She walked up a hill that overlooked a vast piece of land that reminded her of Pride rock with it's golden savanna and plentiful herds. And then she saw it. A rock formation that very well resembled Pride rock just not as big. Instead this "Rock" looked exactly like Pride rock just without the presentation ledge. "We're here." Sarafina said to herself quietly. "What Mom?" "We're home!! Nala this is it. Let's go!" 'This is it. It looks like pride rock. This is it i guess. Time to start a new life' Nala thought to herself. "Coming mom!" Nala shouted back with a new confidence.   
  
They were half way there when Sarafina stopped. and started sniffing the air. "what is it mom?" A smile spread across Sarafina's face. "Your father IS back I know his scent anywhere." "Hey!! Who are you?" A voice growled from behind. They turned to face another lioness who was standing behind them. when she saw Sarafina's face she backpedaled. "Sara??!!" "Jesi!!" "Oh my gosh your alive. Where have you been all this time. We thought you were dead when we couldn't find you or Nala." "It's a long story. I'll tell it to you when I see the other lionesses. Please tell me Tauna is back." Sara pleaded. " Of course he's back! He, Lebo, and Rugla killed off those basterd rogues. But he broke down when we couldn't find you. But he's fine now. And now he'll be even better. Is that Nala??!! Oh my gosh she is gorgeous. " "Thank you." Nala said sheepishly. " I think we're about ready to See Tauna. Where is he?" "He's back at the cave. He was helping us hunt earlier and i think it wore him out." "Well then lets go. Ready Nala?" " Yes mom I'm a little nervous though." Don't worry baby. you have nothing to be scared of." So they headed off towards their home.  
  
Tauna was sitting outside his cave daydreaming. God, he missed Sara. what he would give just to see her again, her smile, her beautiful eyes, but most of all he missed his daughter. He didn't have the chance to see his only daughter grow up and now he didn't know where she was. There was a roar among the lionesses so he went down to see what was going on. when he got down there he saw all the lionesses except Delila jumping around excitedly and the shouting was so loud that he could not make out what they were talking about. He stopped short and watched them for a while then he was joined by Lebo and Rugla. " what is going on?" asked Lebo " I don't know let's go find out." Tauna replied as they made their way towards the lionesses. " What is going on over here?" shouted Rugla raising his voice over all the commotion. The lionesses parted and in the center stood Sarafina with a trembling Nala standing behind her. " Who are y-" Tauna began and then stopped as he stared in Amazement. "Sarafina?? Is it really you?" " Tauna!! oh my gosh I can't believe it's you. I thought I'd never see you again." "Where have you been? I looked everywhere for you." Tauna replied excitedly hugging his long lost wife. "Well, we waited so long and you never came. we feared the worst and we couldn't survive much longer without the help of a pride. So we moved further out west and King Mufasa of Pride rock took us in and accepted us as part of his pride. He has been so good to us.". Nala. Where is Nala". Nala stepped out from behind Her mother. " Daddy?" " Oh my baby Nala. Look at you. Your as beautiful as your mother. I thought I would never have the chance to see you again. I've missed you so much" "I've missed you too daddy. And I'm glad to be home." " Well then i owe so much to this king Mufasa and I am forever in his debt. Well. Let's celebrate. We have a lot of catching up to do.   
  
Delila watched from afar. Once again she did not join the celebrating but she knew what was going on. Sarafina and Nala were back and the royal family was restored. This wasn't fair to her. Tauna had lost someone dear to him and now they were back, but her Tabari couldn't come back. He was lost forever. Why should he who was responsible for the death of her husband have something wonderful such as this happen to him. He didn't' deserve it. Now she wanted vengeance just as much as Kaseko did. And she knew deep down that she could use this event as part of her plan. She just had to plan it out. She headed toward the lionesses to greet the Queen and princess but she had a plan brewing in her head.  
  
"Hello Sarafina! How wonderful it is to have you back!" Delila exclaimed knowing that she did not mean a word of it. " Delila, it's good to see you again. Is this young Kaseko? My he has grown into quite a handsome young cub!" " Thank you. Where is your young cub?" Nala was already making herself acquainted amongst the other cubs: Anwar and Asha cubs of Jedee and Haruni of the Rolling hills pride And Jabilo, Ayoka, and Duka cubs of Adile and her late husband Ajani also of the rolling hills pride. " Nala, come here baby." "Yes mom." "Nala this is Delila and her son Kaseko." "Hello Kaseko. Want to come play with us/" Kaseko stood there in shock. None of the other cubs had ever talked to him before. Like his mother he was a bit of an outsider. The only time the other cubs talked to him was to make fun of him or to invite him to play "The Hunter and the Hunted" with him as the hunted. Why was she any different? She was actually being nice to him and she was really pretty too. The other girls never talked to him they thought they would get germs if they even touched him. But they were always playing with Jabilo and Anwar. " Well..." "Uh okay. I guess that would be fun." Delila's eyes lit up. Not out of happiness for the fact that her son was getting accepted, but because she thought up an idea. " Son, you can't go. It's almost getting dark and I haven't groomed you all day and your filthy." " Oh well okay mom. Maybe next time..." " My name is Nala. Well okay seeya around then." 'Nala: that's a pretty name.' "Come on son. I will see you all later. Goodbye for now."   
  
Delila and Kaseko made their way to their cave. When they got inside Delila sat down and motioned for Kaseko to sit beside her. " Son what do you think of Nala? Do you think she's pretty?" " Yes mom I think she's prettier then Asha, Ayoka, and Duka. She's nice too." " Do you know who she is?" "Sarafina's Daughter?" "Yes. But she is also Tauna's daughter." " Really? Well then I want nothing to do with her. " "No son we can use this. We'll get to Tauna but we can use the daughter to make it easier. I am going to teach you how to be a charmer." " I don't understand." " You will sweep Nala off her feet. Make her fall in love with you and then- " "NO! She is Tauna's daughter. His blood I want nothing to do with her. Much less fall in love with her." With a swipe of her paw Delila hit Kaseko on the back of the head." If you had let me finish you would understand. Now the closer you get to Nala the closer you get to Tauna and you can keep your promise to your father." But what about Nala?" " You can do whatever you want with her. Kill her, Banish her, whatever. Same with her mother. That's why you have to befriend her now. Tomorrow you are going to have a new best friend" " Alright Mom. For dad." Kaseko replied with a spiteful smile on his face. Revenge would be sweet.  
  
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So that is part 1. Please R&R. Part two will come soon. 


	4. The pride Family trees

The Pridelanders:  
  
Royal Family  
  
Mufasa: Son of Ahadi and Isabis/ Sarabi: Daughter of Ellema and Harith of Savanna ridge/ Prince Simba  
  
Pride Male  
  
Scar: Son of Ahadi and Isabis. Brother of Mufasa.  
  
Lionesses  
  
Zaila - Mate: Jabari of The Darklands /Cubs: Amani  
  
Mariatu- Mate: Kenyi Of the Kube River pride/ Cubs: Kobe, Diallo,Taraja  
  
Jendai- Mate: Ramses of the Great Plains pride/ Cubs:Safara and Essian  
  
Kalei- Mate: Morthi of The savanna Ridge coalition./ Cubs: Messina and Kia   
  
Teshia   
  
Sarafina**- Mate: Tauna Of Sunrise coalition/ Cubs: Nala  
  
** Not a natural pridelander. queen of Sunrise Coalition. Returns to Sunrise but is always consisdered as part of the pridelanders by Mufasa.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The Sunrise Coalition:  
  
Royal Family  
  
Tauna: Son of Issay and Hija/ Sarafina Daughter of Faizah and Ugas of the Waterfalls coalition/ Princess Nala  
  
Pride Males:  
  
Rugla: Son Of Caimile and Haruni of the Waterfalls coalition  
  
Lebo: Son of Samina and Naeem of the Clear Lagoon pride  
  
Lionesses  
  
Adiel : Mate: The late Ajani of the rolling hills pride/ Cubs: Jabilo, Ayoka,and Duka  
  
Jeddee: Mate: Haruni of the Rolling hills pride/ Cubs: Anwar and Asha  
  
Delila: Mate: Tabari A rogue (illigitamite marriage)/ Cubs Kaseko  
  
Jesi: Mate: Rugla - Pride male  
  
Malaika  
  
Oni   
  
Nafuna 


	5. Part 2: life changes chapter 4

Simba woke up early in the morning and trotted out onto Pride rocks ledge and stared off into the horizon. It had been three months since Nala had left and things were starting to get really boring without her. But today was going to be different. Today was the day that His father was going to show him the whole kingdom. Simba ran back in the cave and tried his best to avoid the sleeping figures of the other lionesses. But several times, he didn't step on the lionesses but the other cubs. "Hey Simba watch what your doing!" Diallo exclaimed. "Sorry. Now shut up and go back to sleep" Simba trotted up to his dad who was still sound asleep. "Dad. Dad dad dad dad dad" " Your son is awake." Sarabi said groggily. "Before sunrise he's your son." Mufasa replied just as sleepily. " "Dad. come on dad." Simba said tugging at his fathers ear. Then he pulled back and rammed his father with his head." You promised!" "Okay okay. I'm up I'm up." "yeah!" Mufasa let out a loud yawn that woke up the rest of the pride and walked outside to catch up with Simba.  
  
He met up with him on the ledge of pride rock. "Look Simba everything you see is our kingdom. A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun, One day Simba, the sun will set on my time here and rise with you as the new king." " And this will all be mine" "Everything." "Everything the light touches. What about that Shadowy place?" Simba asked gazing off into the distance. " That's beyond our borders. You must never go there." "But I thought a king could do whatever he wants." "Well there's more to being king then getting your way all the time." "There's more?". Mufasa walked down pride rock chuckling. "Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king you need to understand that balance from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope." " But dad don't we eat the antelope?" "Yes Simba but let me explain. When we die our bodies become the grass and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the Great Circle of Life" " Good morning Sire. I'm just checking in with the morning report" Zazu greeted "Fire away" "Well the buzz from the bees is that the leopards are in a bit of a spot" The morning report. How Simba hated this part of the day. As usual Zazu would come and tell Mufasa all the gossip that was going around in the pridelands. You know, if Zazu were a girl it would seem so much more normal. But oh well. Then Simba saw a little cricket hopping around in the grass. 'Well this ought to keep me busy for a while' he thought. So he started pouncing around trying to capture it "What are you doing son?" "Pouncing" "Why don't you let an old pro show you how it's done. Zazu could you turn around for a minute" " Yes sire" " Stay low to the ground " " Okay stay low to the ground, Right? Yeah" " what's going on?" Zazu asked. " A pouncing lesson." "oh very good pouncing. POUNCING!! Oh no sire you can't be serious." Zazu pleaded. Mufasa moved his finger in a circle telling Zazu to turn around. " oh this is so humiliating " "and don't make a sound." "what are you telling him Mufasa? Mufasa? Simba? AAHHH" Simba lunged at Zazu and knocked him flat on the ground. "That's very good. Now this time..." " Sire hyena's in the pridelands." " Zazu take Simba home" Mufasa commanded." Awww dad can't I come." Simba whined. " No son" " Man I never get to go anywhere." " Oh young master. One day you will be king then you can chase those slobbering mangy stupid poachers from dawn until dusk."  
  
Zazu left Simba at the base of pride rock and flew off to see if Mufasa needed help. Simba climbed up pride rock in search of his uncle Scar. He couldn't wait to tell him about all the stuff he learned. He finally found him loitering around pride rock. "Hey uncle Scar guess what." "I despise guessing games" Scar whined to himself. Scar didn't like hanging around the rest of the pride. The only time he really ever talked to the others was when they were eating. "I'm gonna be king of pride rock. My dad just showed me the whole kingdom and I'm gonna rule it all." Simba said proudly. " Yes well forgive me for not leaping for joy. Bad back you know." Scar said sarcastically as he flopped down lazily. "Uncle Scar, when I'm king, what'll that makes you." " A monkey's uncle." "Your so weird." " You have known idea. So your father showed you the whole kingdom did he?" "Everything" " he didn't show you what's beyond that rise at the northern border?" " Well no he said I couldn't go there." "And he is absolutely right. Far too dangerous only the bravest lions go there." "Well I'm brave. What's out there?" " I'm sorry Simba. I just can't tell you." "Why not?" " Simba, Simba. I'm just looking out for the well being of my favorite nephew." "Yeah right. I'm your only nephew." "All the more reason for me to be protective. An elephant graveyard in no place for a young prince. OOPPPS!" " An elephant graveyard!! WOW!!" exclaimed the young prince. " Oh dear I've said to much. Well I suppose you would have found out sooner or later. You being so clever and all. Oh but just do me one favor. Promise me you'll never visit that dreadful place." Scar asked pleadingly. " No problem." Simba replied with a smirk. " Now there's a good lad. You run along now and have fun. But remember. It's our little secret. Scar called after him knowing Simba wasn't going to comply with his orders. But that's exactly what he wanted.  
  
'Wow an elephant graveyard. How cool! I'm sure Uncle Scar wouldn't mind if I just went to take a peek and besides it's not like he's gonna find out about it. Man I can't wait to tell Nala about it!' "Oh yeah I forgot" Simba thought out loud. He often forgot that Nala was gone. It had been three months and although he would play with the other cubs it still wasn't the same without Nala. Nala was fun to be around she was always cheerful and was always ready for an adventure. 'Nala would have loved this' he thought. ' Oh well, she said she would come visit me soon. But who do I take to the elephant graveyard'. Simba found his mother lying lazily on a rock under a tree with Mariatu and Diallo and Taraja, 2 of her 3 cubs. Maybe they'll go with me. But what do I tell mom?' " Hey Diallo!! Hey Taraja!!" " Hey Simba whatcha doin'?" Taraja replied. "Come on guys! I just heard about this cool place" "And where is this cool place?" Sarabi asked coolly. ' Man I knew she was going to ask that!' " Well it's around the waterhole." Simba said timidly. " The waterhole?? What are we going to do at the water hole?" Taraja asked. " Yeah." Diallo chimed in "We go there everyday what's so new about it today?" Simba flashed an innocent smile at his mother and turned to Diallo and Taraja and grabbed Diallo by the bottom nape of the neck and pulled him down. " I'll show you all when we get there." he said with his teeth grit. " Oh!" Diallo said with his eyes cast down obviously still not getting the message. And then he understood " Ooohh…Ooohh I get you now. Uh mom can me and Taraja go with Simba?" " Hmmm what do you think, Sarabi?" Mariatu asked. "Well…" "Please??" The three asked in unison. " It's Alright with me." "Alright!!" " As long as Zazu goes with you." The cubs stopped in their tracks " No not Zazu."  
  
" Step lively. The sooner we get to the waterhole the sooner we can leave." Zazu shouted down to the cubs while he flew ahead. " So where are we really going?" Taraja asked. " An elephant graveyard." Simba whispered back " Really/ I thought you weren't allowed to go there. Your dad said you couldn't go there." Diallo interjected " Well what dad don't know won't hurt him. And besides we're just gonna take a peek." " Fine. One problem though how do we lose the leech."? Diallo said nodding his head up at the direction of Zazu. " Hey let's run into the Jungle we can lose him in there." Taraja whispered. "Good idea" The cubs padded quietly out of sight into the dense jungle with Zazu behind bumping into endless trees and vines in the dense jungle. Finally the cubs lost sight of him and they were free. " Alright it worked! We lost him" Simba exclaimed. "Alright wise guy which way to the graveyard?" " We're almost there. Now stop talking and start walking." they walked for a while and he land was becoming less familiar and still no sign of Zazu. " Great we're lost. Now what genius?" Diallo asked sarcastically. " I think I know my own kingdom, Diallo." Simba answered just as a-matter-of- factly.   
  
" Why don't you just admit that we're lost and we can turn back? It's getting dark." Taraja pleaded. "We're not lost, now shut up and follow me." Simba retorted. "Who died and made you leader?" " I was born leader, dork!" " Oh yeah!" Diallo lunged at Simba and they tumbled down a small cliff and when they reached the bottom they continued Wrestling. " Come on guys cut it out!" Taraja yelled, "This isn't funny, one of you might get hurt!" " Shut Up!" they both yelled back at her but she had lost sight of them and could not see where they were. She couldn't go back and leave them down there, so she timidly started down the cliff to search for them. As she descended she could hear them grunting and fighting but she got a little careless and lost her balance and tumbled down. She tumbled down and when she finally came to a stop she collided with the wrestling forms of Simba and Diallo. " What are you doin down here?" Diallo exclaimed. Before she could answer a small geyser erupted right beside them. The three cubs righted themselves and as the steam cleared the form of an enormous figure of what appeared to be the skull of an elephant. " This is it we made it." Simba whispered quietly. The three padded quietly over to a ledge that hung over miles of bones littered everywhere. " Whoa!" the three said together in awe. " It's really creepy." Taraja stated. " Yeah, what did I tell ya? I know where I'M going. I believe you owe me an apology," he said directing his statement to Diallo. "I'm sorry." Diallo grumbled. "That'll do." " I wonder if its brains are still in there." Taraja said. " Well there's only one way to know. Come on lets go check it out!" " Wrong!!" Zazu exclaimed he had finally caught up with the cubs and was not in a good mood "The only checking you all will do will be to check out of here. We're way beyond the boundaries of the pridelands" " oh look banana beak is scared." Simba teased. "That's Mr. Banana Beak to you fuzzy. And right now we are all in very real danger." " Danger? Ha! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger. HA HA HA HA!" "HEHEHEHEHE!" From inside the elephant skull came an eerie cackle. Simba jumped away from the skull and ran behind Diallo. "Well well well Banzai, What have we got here?" The first hyena said. " Hmm I don't know Shenzi. What do you think, Ed?" Replied the second hyena. The third replied by laughing in a malicious way. " Well that's just what I was thinkin'   
  
A'coupla' trespassers" the second hyena, Banzai, replied. " And quite by accident, let me assure you a simple navigational error." Zazu added nervously. The female hyena, Shenzi, put her paw on Zazu's tail and stopped him." Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Wait, wait wait…I know you your Mufasa's little stooge." " I Madame am the Kings major Domo." " And that would make you…?" " The future king." Simba replied proudly. "Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdom?" Shenzi asked circling the three cubs. Diallo and Taraja were to scare to help and were shaking the whole time. Simba scoffed. " You can't do anything to me." " Uh well technically they can. We are on their land." " But Zazu, you told me they're nothing but slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers." Zazu was waving his feathers in front of Simba and grumbled nervously " Exnay on the upid-stay." " Hey who you calling upid-stay" Banzai shouted. " Zazu began hurrying the cubs along. " My my my look at the sun it's time to go." "We're sorry we'd love you to stick around for dinner" "yeah we can have whatever's lion around." " "Wait wait. I got one I got one!! We can each have a cub sandwich. What ya think?" Ed started jumping around pointing in the opposite direction. " Hey did we order this dinner to go?" " No. Why?" " BECAUSE THERE IT GOES!!" Banzai said as the three cubs and Zazu dashed away. The three hyenas followed the cubs and got a hold of Zazu but that went unnoticed by the three frightened cubs. " Did we lose them?" Taraja asked. " Simba if we get out here I am going to kick your butt." Diallo added. " I think we lost them but…where's Zazu?"  
  
" Now the little major domo bird, hippity hopped all the way to the birdie boiler."   
  
"Oh no not the birdie boiler" Zazu erupted out of the geyser and the three hyenas laughed hysterically. " Hey why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Simba yelled out to them. "Like you?" " Ooppps" The hyenas once again tore off after the three cubs and cut them off every chance they got. At an attempt to get away the cubs climbed up a " hill of bones" and Taraja lagged behind. " Help!" Simba and Diallo who were ahead saw that the hyenas were getting to close to her. They ran back down and while Diallo grabbed her paw and pulled her along Simba Scratched the hyena that was threatening them on the nose which stalled them a little bit. Finally they reached a dead end. There was nowhere left to run. Simba and Diallo would have to try to fight. " Here Kitty Kitty." 


	6. chapter 5

Back at the sunrise coalition Nala couldn't be happier. She was a princess, had lots of friends, but most of all she had her father. She missed Simba a lot though and the rest of the cubs, and Mufasa and Sarabi. She wanted so bad to go visit them but every time her mother would ask them if she wanted to see them, Nala would always put it off to some other time. She wanted to go but she was just having so much fun. Although she hated to admit it she was having even more fun then she had with Simba. Although she could never replace Simba she had a new best friend. Kaseko. The other cubs were great but…. There was just something about Kaseko. The other cubs apparently didn't like him very much and usually scolded her whenever she would invite him to play. But she didn't see why they didn't like him. They always told her there was something wrong with him or that they didn't trust him, but they never gave her a reason for feeling that way. He was very charming, kinda cute, and he was very intelligent, she enjoyed being around him. He had an attitude that showed that he could care less what everybody else thought of him and she admired that. She wasn't going to let them tell her who she could and couldn't be friends with. If they were going to play with her Kaseko came too whether they liked it or not. The more she thought about she was really starting to like him, A lot.  
  
Kaseko didn't feel the same way. He did have a " Could Care Less" attitude but that applied to Nala as well. He didn't care for her. As far as he knew he was playing her for all she was worth. He knew she liked him, and he could admit that she was very pretty but he couldn't let that interfere. All he had to do was pretend to like her and the closer he got to her the closer he got to Tauna and then he would be set.   
  
The sun was beginning to set and Kaseko was sitting down on a rock that faced the sunset. "Hey Kaseko!!" Kaseko turned around and saw Nala walking up to him. Kaseko turned his face away from her and sighed in annoyance and then faced her again as if nothing was wrong. " Hello Nala. What are you doing?" " Nothin'. Talkin' to you." She replied sweetly as she sat down beside him. " What are you doin?" "Just sitting here." He replied without even looking at her. " Well.. Do ya wanna go do something?" " Nah." "Are you mad at me or something?" ' yes as a matter of fact I hate you. I can't stand the sight of you' is what he wanted to say but he just shook his head. " No I'm just kinda tired and my head hurts." " Oh well okay maybe this'll make you feel better." Nala licked his face and ran off giggling stopping to turn and catch his reaction. He was just staring at her and cracked a small smile at her. She didn't understand it. Whenever she pulled that trick on Simba he would cringe and wipe his face with his paw then he would chase her and try to pin her in revenge. But Kaseko didn't seem to mind. It was as if he enjoyed it just as much as she enjoyed doing that. Maybe just maybe he felt the same way she did. She smiled back and turned around and walked back home.  
  
As soon as she turned around Kaseko growled a little bit and wiped his face. She was getting to comfortable and it was annoying him. The only reason he smiled at her was because he didn't want to be rude and get her upset at him that would ruin the plan.  
  
Nala ran home and found her mother settling in their cave. Her father wasn't there yet he was out doing one more round in their pridelands. "hello Nala. How was your day?" " Great! Today Ayoka and I pushed Anwar into the water hole and jumped in and forced him to stay in there!" "Nala! That wasn't very nice." "Well he deserved it. He was being mean." "well you should have ignored him… oh by the way I was thinking of going o pride rock tomorrow morning. Do you want to go?" Nala grimaced a little and said, "but then I got to wake up early. Can't we go during the afternoon."? " Nala it will be to hot during the afternoon. It would be better if we left while it's cool in the morning. Besides, I would like to go see them before the drought gets worse." Nala went over to her mother and her mother gave her a bath before she went to bed. " Well can't we just wait until after the drought? It's not like their going anywhere." " Fine." After she was done, Nala got up and waited with her mother for her dad. " So what else did you do today?" Nala paused for a while and then stated, "Well… I gave Kaseko a kiss today." "What!! Nala you're to young to be doing that!" " It was just a little one. He seemed to be having a bad day so I was just trying to cheer him up." " Oh you mean like that thing you used to do to Simba." Sarafina said with a little bit of relief. " Yeah except he didn't do what Simba does? He didn't seem to mind. He just smiled." " He probably knew you were just kidding." " Yeah…. Mom can I tell you something?" " Of course baby." " I'm kinda starting to like Kaseko. I mean really like him. He's smart, nice, and kinda cute. He's not that social though. But other then that I really like him. Is that wrong?" Sarafina was speechless. Her little girl was in love. " No dear that's not wrong. Does he like you?" " I think so. He's like my new best friend and I think he liked it when I gave him the little kiss. But do you think we can keep this between you and me." " Of course dear. Look here comes your father." " Hey daddy!" " Hello princess." " Nala wanted to wait for you to come back before she went to sleep." " Well I'm getting sleepy. Goodnight mom, dad. I love you." " Good night princess." they called back to her. After she left sarafina spoke up, "Tauna I have something to tell you."   
  
Nala ran out of her parents cave and up the ledge to a small cave that was enough for one lion. Tauna let her have that small cave to herself. Their "Pride Rock" had six small caves: one for Tauna and sarafina, one for Lebo, one shared by Rugla and his mate Jesi, another shared by Adiel and Jedee and their cubs, One for Delila and Kaseko, and the other for Malaika, Oni, Nafuna. Plus one medium sized cave at the base of the rock that no one really used. So almost each lioness had their own cave unlike Mufasa's pride rock that had one large den, a cave where the royal family slept, and some extra cavern. Nala's wasn't really considered a cave it was very small and was more of a chamber then a cave. But she liked it. She tried to get settled in but she could not find a comfortable position. As a mater of fact she really didn't feel like sleeping now. Nala got up and walked over to the entrance of the chamber and stared up at the moon. She thought about what happened today with Kaseko. Maybe she really did like him…a lot. She couldn't stop thinking about him. Yes. She did. She loved his swarthy look and his attitude and she didn't care what the other cubs thought of him.   
  
" I think our little princess is in love." Sarafina said proudly. " What? With who?" Tauna asked in an almost gruff tone as most fathers do. " With Delila's son, Kaseko. She seems to really like him." "Kaseko? Are you sure?" " Why? What's wrong with him?" " Nothing it's just…he's not exactly the most social cub in the pride. He never really plays with the other cubs. He and Nala are total opposites. Jabari maybe, but not Kaseko." " Why, I think he and Nala are cute together. Not as cute as Simba was but Nala seems like Kaseko a little bit more." " Who's Simba?" " Simba was the prince of the pride that took us in. He and Nala got along great, they were best friends. Sarabi and I thought they would make a wonderful king and queen and so we talked to Mufasa, he agreed and they were betrothed. They thought it was gross when we told them but we knew that when they got older they would think differently. They were already best friends. But I didn't know that I would be coming back here." " So Nala's not betrothed anymore?" " No she's here now. But now that I think of it, it would be a good idea to promise her to one of the young males. Should anything happen to us she'll be taken care of." " But to Kaseko? Not that I think there's anything wrong with the boy but he's rather timid, don't you think?" " Well there's nothing wrong with that. When he gets older he will be the type to handle matters seriously and he would take care of Nala. She said so herself that they are best friends.". Tauna looked at his paws considering what he just heard. His little girl had been here just three months and already they were planning her wedding day. But Sara did have a point. He wanted Nala to be taken care of if anything happened to him. " Fine, Kaseko it is. Once again. Are you sure?" " Nala said she really liked him… a lot." " Alright then. Well I'm sure he'll change soon enough." " Great I'll talk to Delila in the morning." " Alright. Goodnight sweet heart."   
  
Tauna lay down beside Sara and put his forepaw around her lovingly and kissed her gently. " Goodnight." 


	7. chapter 6

"Simba I'm very disappointed in you." " I know." Simba hated letting his father down and just looked down at his paws. " You could have been killed and what's worse. You put your friends in danger." Simba could feel his throat start to get irritated, a sign that he was about to cry and his voice began to crack as he spoke, " I was just trying to be brave like you." " I'm only brave when I have to be. Simba, being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble." " But your not scared of anything." " I was today. I was afraid I was going to lose you." " Oh well I guess even kings get scared huh? But ya know what? I think those hyenas were even scarder." Mufasa chuckled. " Because nobody messes with your dad." Mufasa put his paw behind Simba and pulled him closer and gave him a noogie. Simba squirmed out of his grasp and chased after his father. He pounced and landed on Mufasa's head and pulled on his ear. " Dad. We're pals right?" " Right." " And we'll always be together, right?" Mufasa righted himself a little and said," let me tell you something that my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I."  
  
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"Man, that lousy Mufasa. I won't be able to sit for a week." whined one of the unfortunate hyenas who decided to mess with Mufasa. Ed just laughed in response. " it's not funny Ed." Banzai retorted. This caused the hyena to laugh even harder. " Hey shut up!!" Banzai growled. But Ed didn't so Banzai lunged at him. " Will you guys knock it off!" Shenzi yelled over them. " Well he started it." banzai said pointing at Ed who was to busy chewing on his own leg. " Look at you guys. No wonder we're dangling at the bottom of the food chain." " man I hate dangling." " Yeah, well if it weren't for those lions, we'd be runnin' the joint." " Man I hat lions!" Banzai  
  
"So pushy."   
  
"And hairy"  
  
"And stinky"  
  
"And man are they.."  
  
" UGLY!!"   
  
" Oh well surely us lions aren't all that bad." The hyenas whirled around and saw Scar sitting on a ledge towering over them. " Oh scar it's just you." Banzai said with a relief. " Yeah we thought is was somebody important." " Yeah you know like Mufasa." " I see." Scar replied not surprised.   
  
"Now that's power."   
  
"Tell me about it. I just hear that name and I shudder."  
  
" Mufasa"  
  
"OOOHHH. Do it again."   
  
"Mufasa."  
  
" OOOHHH"  
  
" MUFASA,MUFASA,MUFASA."  
  
" OH it tingles."  
  
"I'm surrounded by idiots." Scar said disgusted." Well now you scar, your one of us. Your our pal." "Charmed." "OOOHHH I like that. He's not king but he's still so proper." "Oh, hey scar did you bring us anything to eat ol' buddy ol' pal Huh? Did'ya did'ya did'ya?" "I don't think you really deserve this" Scar said as he pulled out a zebra leg from behind him. The hyenas started jumping on their hind legs like little performing poodles " I practically gift wrapped those cubs for you and you couldn't even dispose of them." he through them the leg and they immediately started tearing in to it. " Well you know it was exactly like they were alone Scar." Shenzi noted with food in her mouth. " Yeah what were we supposed to do. Kill Mufasa?" "Precisely."  
  
A few days later Simba's uncle scar came to him. " Your father sent me to get you. He wants you to meet him in the gorge." Ever since the hyena incident Simba had been on his best behavior, so he trotted quickly alongside Scar. Scar led him down into the gorge and led him to a small rock with a weak tree hanging over it. " Now wait right here your father has a wonderful surprise for you." " OOOHHH what is it?" Simba asked excitedly. " " well if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it." " If you tell me I'll still act surprised." "Oh you are such a naughty boy." Scar chuckled. Simba frowned and jumped on his uncle a bit. " Come on uncle scar." " no, no, no. This is just for you and your daddy. You know a sort of father son…thing. Well I better go get him." " I'll go with you." "NO! heh heh heh…No. just stay on this rock. You wouldn't want to end up in another mess like you did with the hyenas." " You know about that." " Simba everyone knows about that." " really?" " Oh yes. Lucky daddy was there to save you eh. Oh and just between us you might want to work on that little roar of yours. Hmmm." " oh okay. Hey uncle scar will I like the surprise?" "Simba it's to DIE for." Scar said as he walked away. Simba grew bored while waiting for Mufasa but knew better then to disobey him again. So he decided to practice his " little roar. All of a sudden he heard a loud rumble and felt the earth shake. At the far end of the gorge he saw dark forms running down the edge. As he squinted he saw that they were Wildebeests. They were stampeding!!!  
  
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What was he doing? Was he actually running away? His father was dead, his uncle told him to run away, and he almost died again because he chased out of his own home by the hyenas. Not that he would of cared if he died. Right now he could care less. He wished he was dead. he wanted to be with his father.   
  
The earth was becoming dry and cracked as he continued running. He was very thirsty, hungry and tired. All of this was to much for him he collapsed on the dry earth and closed his eyes not caring if he woke up or not.  
  
Back at Priderock Scar had already told the rest of the pride about the terrible " Accident" and everybody was devastated. Especially Sarabi. She lost both her son and her husband all in one day and that was all to much for her. How could this happen? Why? This sad event made scar the king and it was bad enough that she didn't trust him one bit but he actually let the hyenas, all of them, live with the lions at Priderock. What was he thinking? He didn't even see to care that this bothered the rest of the pride. It was like he accepted them. The lionesses were whispering amongst themselves trying to figure out what just happened here and then stood over the cubs making sure no harm came to them. The cubs were scared out of their wits, especially Diallo and Taraja. after their run in with the hyenas they were too scared to even move. The hyenas started to come to close to the cubs which angered the lionesses and they began to snarl and swipe their claws at the unwanted guests. Amani who was getting bigger and was showing the beginnings of a mane in his thirteenth year, was also getting frustrated and he too began to snarl at the hyenas who were bothering his friends. If things were going to continue like this he would have to help out with the younger ones. Not that he minded but that meant no more playing around and that he would have more responsibility. Things wouldn't be the same without Simba. Simba was his best friend. Without any older cubs around he played with Simba more than anybody else. When the hyenas finally let up, the lions were a little at ease. When they looked up at the ledge of Priderock scar was already ascending the throne and he threw back his head and let out a roar. And in regret the lionesses responded in acceptance. The next day the drought which would be the beginning of rough times started and things were never the same again.  
  
***Splash*** Was it raining? Simba thought. He felt water splashing on his face and looked up to see a small meerkat and a warthog standing in front of him. Was he dreaming? Everything was so foggy. " Are you okay kid?" asked the meerkat. " I- I think so." he responded weakly. " You nearly died." said the large warthog. " I saved ya." added the meerkat proudly. The warthog snorted at the meerkat." Pumbaa helped….a little" He added hesitantly. " Thanks for you help." Simba said as he solemnly walked away. Timon and Pumbaa talked amongst themselves. " Geez he looks blue." " I'd say brownish gold." " no no no. I mean he's depressed. " Timon and Pumbaa ran up behind Simba and tried to make him feel better. " Hey kid what's eatin' ya?" " Nothin he's at the top of the food chain!!! Ah ha…the food chain.. aha…heh…So where ya from?" "Who cares I can't go back" " Ah you're an outcast. That's great so are we" Timon said excitedly. "What you do kid?" Pumbaa asked. " Something terrible but I don't want to talk about it." Simba answered sadly. " Well good Cuz we don't want to hear about it." Timon answered. " oh come on Timon. Anything we can do?" Pumbaa asked. " Not unless you can change the past." You know, kid, in times like this my buddy Timon here says, "You got to put your behind in your past..." "No. No. No. Amateur. Lie down before you hurt yourself. It's "You got to put your past behind you. Look, kid. Bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it, right?" "Right." "Wrong! When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world." "Well, that's not what I was taught. "Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me. AHEM. Hakuna Matata." "What?" ":Ha-ku-na Ma-ta-ta. It means "No worries."." 


	8. Chapter 7

Months passed and the drought passed through out the savannah. The heat was excruciating. Nala hated it she couldn't play outside the cave and there was barely any water. She was so bored, half the time she slept in the cool cave or went to the other cubs cave and played with them. Sarafina took the opportunity without Nala and went to Delila's cave to talk about the betrothal between her daughter and her son. Kaseko went over to Nala's own cave and they played a few games but it wasn't as fun as it would have been outside, not that he enjoyed these games. In his mind he was cursing Nala, wishing she had never come here. But he had to stay focused.  
  
Sarafina walked into Delila's cave where she was hiding from the heat. "Delila?" Delila with her head still on her paws, rolled her eyes at the sound of Sarafina's voice. She then lifted her head and put on a fake smile, " Good afternoon, your majesty." " Delila. You know you don't have to address me like that." " I'm sorry. Well what can I help you with?" Sara lay down in front of Delila and spoke, " I was wondering if I could talk to you about your son." " What about him?" Delila responded suspiciously. " Well, as you know since Nala is a princess, when she gets older she will take my place as queen but she will need a king by her side." " Go on." Delila stated inquisitively. " Well, when we were at pride rock with Mufasa Nala was betrothed to the prince, Simba. And it occurred to me that since we are no longer in their pride that the betrothal is no longer valid. Now that Nala is heir to the throne she needs a betrothed. She seems to have a liking towards your son and he to her, and after talking it over with Tauna, I am proposing to you that your son be husband to my daughter and king in the event of our abdication." Delila smiled. Not because of the fact that her son was betrothed but because Sarafina was making her plan all the more easier. Now Kaseko wouldn't have to try to earn Tauna's trust. it was being put right into his lap. Now he had the girl all he has to do is find a way to kill Tauna and find away to make it look like an accident. That way no one would give it a second thought to retaliate against Kaseko and he would keep his promise to his father. This was perfect. " I would be honored to have my son marry your daughter, Sara. Kaseko has also told me of his liking for Nala, and I believe it would be a perfect match." " Wonderful, we will announce it as soon as things better themselves and we aren't in such heat. thank you" Sara replied thoughtfully. " No. Thank You." Delila answered and after Sara left Delila called for her son.   
  
"NO NO NO!! it's bad enough you have me befriending and charming this girl I am not going to marry her. After I become king I'm going to banish her and she will be out of my life forever." Kaseko exclaimed after his mother told him the "good" news. Delila was losing her patience, " Don't you understand. This is perfect. If you marry Nala you will be automatically made heir to the throne. After the marriage you can terminate Tauna, but make it seem like a accident. When the news of his death reaches the pride no one will even suspect it was you." " But I want him to know it was me. I want him to know who I am." " And he will but that doesn't mean the pride has to. Once he is gone no one will get back at you because they will think it was an accident." "Well that parts fine but I don't want to marry Nala!!" " Well you have to. And who knows maybe you might change your feelings toward her. You never know. Just because you might love her doesn't mean you have to like her parents. Relationships like that happen all the time." Kaseko was getting annoyed at his mothers persistence. Why couldn't she just stick with the original plan. That one was fine. " No I am not doing it!" " you will whether you like it or not." " No!" and with that Kaseko ran out annoyed and angry into the heat of the day.  
  
Two months passed and finally the rains came to the land. The heat wasn't as bad and Nala couldn't be happier. Now that the heat was gone Sarafina would start to slowly teach Nala the basics of hunting and the rules of being a queen. One day Nala was waiting for her mother under one of the acacia trees for her daily lessons. Sara came up to her daughter," Nala, today we aren't going to have lessons. Today I want you to get as much rest as you can because tomorrow we are going to pride rock to visit Mufasa's pride." Nala whined, " DO we have to? Can't we go some other time?" Sara was getting irritated and said sternly, " Nala. I said that we would go after the drought. The drought is over and I am going to go visit. You don't have to come. But if you want to see Simba I suggest you get ready to leave in the morning. You promised him, remember?" Nala grimaced a little. She wanted to see him but not right now. She didn't feel like leaving right now but she also didn't want to make a liar of herself. "Okay." " Alright. Let's practice your hunting then we will get something to eat. Then it's off to bed." " Okay. At least I can get my hunting lesson."   
  
Nala and Sara caught a zebra and after they ate, headed off to bed. The next morning thy got up early they kissed Tauna goodbye and headed toward the pridelands. They were at the edge of the pridelands when Sara stopped. " What Happened here?" They looked around and saw that everything around them was dead. It was still very hot, not excruciating but very hot. The trees, the savanna, everything was dry and lifeless. The waterhole was almost dry and there were barely any herds around. 'why haven't the rains come here yet?' Sara thought to herself. " whoa. Mom what happened?" " I don't know Nala, I guess the rains haven't come yet. I hope everyone is okay. Let's go." Nala and Sara headed further into the pridelands and he further they went the drier things got. As they were walking, they saw…a hyena? In the pridelands? Another joined him and then two more. "what's going on here? Mufasa would never allow this." Sara thought out loud "Stay here, Nala. And don't move from this spot." "Okay mom." " Hey! Who are you and what…Sarafina?!" a voice behind them said. "Sarabi?" she replied. "What are you doing here? Hello Nala." Sarabi smiled. " Hi! Where is Simba?" Sarabi frowned at the mention of her sons name and then turned her attention to the hyenas and saw that they were startled by something. "Oh dear. I'm sorry but you both have to get out of here, quickly!" She whispered nervously. " Why? What's wrong? Why are there hyenas here?" Sara asked, worried about why her friend was acting so strange. "there is explain. Go to the gorge and wait there I'll try to see you down there. Now go!" Sara and Nala slunk off and headed toward the gorge. As they were walking away the hyenas were making there way toward Sarabi. "Who were you talking to?" asked one of the hyenas. "I was talking to myself. Do you have a problem with that?" "Don't back talk me. Besides Scar is calling for you." He spat back. " what else is new?" she muttered under her breath. She followed behind the hyenas as they headed back to pride rock. 'I hope Nala and Sara make it okay.'  
  
Sarafina and Nala made it to the gorge without any problems. " What was that about?" Nala asked confusedly. "I don't know, but something's not right.". they sat and waited for Sarabi to return. After a few minutes Nala's ears perked up. " Mom, do you hear that?" "What?" "it sounds like someone talking." After they were quiet for a while Sara heard it and they headed toward the voice. " Hey Simba," the voice said. "Simba!" Nala exclaimed then ran from where she was standing in the direction where the voice was coming. When she got there she didn't see Simba anywhere, just some guy."…we really miss you down here. It's not the same without you. Wherever you are though, I'm sure your happier there." why was he talking to himself she thought. " I know you and Mufasa are with us and will take care of us. I'll be back later." the young male then turned around and started walking towards Nala with his face down. Sarafina walked up behind Nala and saw the young lion. And then smiled in recognition. "Amani?" "Yes Maam? I was just …" he then looked up and saw Sarafina and Nala standing in front of him and smiled. " Oh wow what are you guys doin here? It's great to see you. Hey Nala! I think you've gotten a little bigger" Nala ran up to him and he bent down to butt heads with her" Hey Amani! Cool! Your mane is growing in.". Sarafina interrupted, " Amani what is going on? Why are there hyenas here?" Amani's smile turned into a frown and he once again looked down at his paws. "What's wrong?" Nala asked. Amani looked up again a tear was forming in his eye. " I hate to have to tell you this but…" he paused debating whether or not to tell them. "tell us what?" Sara asked. Amani sighed and then said, "Mufasa and Simba are dead." Sarafina and Nala gasped. Nala started breathing heavy shaking her head as if to shake the thought out of her head. Amani continued, "they died in a stampede here in the gorge. Simba was playing down here when it started and then Mufasa tried to save him but he died also. I often come down here to just talk to Simba and Mufasa even though I know they can't hear me." Nala started to cry heavily and sarafina wanted to cry but she had to stay strong for Nala. But eventually she gave in also. " I'm so sorry." Amani said as he walked over and put his paw on Nala's shoulder. "when did it happen?" Sara asked trying to clear her throat of the lump that was in there. " The day before the drought started. This drought has been going on for to long. We've had no rain at all." he paused for a while then started again, "For what it's worth Nala, Simba always thought about you. He missed you very much." Nala stopped crying for a while and lifted her head from Amani's shoulder, then she felt a large lump in her throat. Her mind went back to the few days before the drought. And she remembered when her mother kept asking her if she wanted to visit Simba, and she said that they would visit after the drought. Even after the drought she didn't want to visit. She didn't have a chance to say good-bye to her best friend and now she would never see him again because of her own selfishness. All that time he was waiting for her and she never even gave a second thought about it. She once again started crying harder then before. This didn't make Amani feel any better and he started to cry with her. Sarafina stopped crying a little and asked Amani after a few moments of silence, " Amani why are there hyenas in the pridelands?" Amani sniffled a little and answered, " Well, the day scar told us that they were dead and he took over the throne, he invited the hyenas to live us in the same lands. Without our consent. It's bad enough that the pridelands are in bad condition but now we have to feed the hyenas as well as ourselves. They don't let us stop hunting half the time they don't even finish what they have us kill. That is why there aren't very many herds here anymore. They are all leaving for better land." Sarafina was confused now. "But why would scar let them live here. He knows lions and hyenas don't get along." she asked. " You got me there. He treats them better then he treats us.". just then they heard some voices coming from around the corner behind Amani. "you have to go now. I'm sorry you can't stay. Scar has the hyenas trained to keep out all visitors. If they see you I don't know what they'll do." Amani said quietly as he pushed Nala gently away from his arm. Sara nodded and replied quietly " Good bye then. If you ever need anything come find us. Head out east and passed the hills. You should find us there." Amani nodded and with that Sara and Nala ran back from the way they came, out of the gorge and on toward home.  
  
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Nala and Sara made their way home safely. When they got home everything was exceptionally quiet. When they found Tauna he had a forlorn look on his face. When he looked up he saw that Nala was crying also. Not knowing why she was crying he nuzzled his daughter and then asked Sara, " what's wrong with Nala?" "When we went to visit Pride rock we found out that Mufasa and Simba were killed in an accident a few months ago. The pridelands are in terrible condition I wish there was something we could do for them. Why is everyone else so sad?" She asked in reply. " I'm afraid we have suffered a tragedy also. While you were gone Delila was killed. When the lionesses went out hunting Delila went also. When she tried to bring down the kill but it kicked and hit her in the neck. It got away but Delila wasn't as fortunate. It broke her neck, she died instantly." All of this was to much for Sara and Nala. " where's Kaseko?" Asked sarafina. "He's in his cave. he refuses to talk to anyone. He's taking this very hard. Maybe he will talk to Nala. Maybe you should go see him." Tauna suggested. Nala had calmed down a little but was still crying and made her way to Kaseko's cave.  
  
Kaseko was in his cave but he was not crying. He couldn't. instead he was mentally scolding himself. The last thing he had said to his mother was no and he yelled at her. He knew his mom would forgive him but just as with his father he would honor his mothers last wish. He would allow himself to become engaged to Nala and carry out their plan from there. Just then he heard someone coming toward him he turned around and saw that it was Nala. " Hey." she said quietly. "Hi." he replied " I'm so sorry about your mother. I know how you feel. I just found out that my best friend died too." "Thanks but I don't need your pity." he replied annoyed. Then he hit his head with his paw and scoffed 'bad answer' he thought. If he was going to do what his mother had asked of him this was not going to do it. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little upset is all. And I sorry about your friend." he told her. " I understand and thank you. I'll leave if you want to be alone for a while." " No it's alright I could use some company right now. You probably do too." he responded. " yeah I guess we do sort of need each other right now. "  
  
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Well there's part two. Part three will bring surprise reunions and some more unwanted guests 


	9. Chapter 8

"I am really getting tired of this" Safara complained. It was hot midday and all the cubs sat at the base of Priderock waiting for their mothers to return from the hunt. Although they knew they wouldn't be able to eat on account of the hyenas.  
  
"Tired of what?" Essian asked  
  
"Of this heat! Those hyenas. Scar. I hate them all." She responded  
  
" Your telling us." Messina and Kia said in unison.  
  
"I hate this heat!! It's not good for my fur!" Kia whined.  
  
"Yeah! And those hyenas smell so bad they are so messy and dirty. I can't stand dirty people!" Messina chimed in.  
  
Essian rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Is that all?! Are those the best reasons you can come up with? Have you even noticed that there are barely anymore herds and not enough water? Your fur and being messy should be last things you should worry about."  
  
"Well that's easy for you to say you're a boy. Us girls don't like living like this. You like this don't you?" Messina retorted.  
  
"Speak for yourselves. Me and Taraja don't like the heat or hyenas either but that's the last thing we are worried about. We're worried more about our mothers and the pride." Safara spat back.  
  
"Oh Shut up you tomboy!" Kia said  
  
"don't tell me to shut up!" Safara spat back.  
  
Then the cubs started to argue with each other until Amani and Diallo approached them.  
  
"All ya'll shut up!" Diallo yelled above them. The cubs stopped their quibbling and listened.  
  
"Complaining and fighting about everything won't help any." Amani added. Just then Kobe came running toward the base of pride rock. "Hey guys, we have visitors. And they don't look very friendly." The cubs got up and looked toward the north and saw a group on lionesses coming toward them. They turned around and saw their mothers coming toward them from behind. Each lioness grabbed their own cub and put them by their side. Sarabi moved to the front of them and stood solidly watching the intruders carefully. She wondered why the hyenas weren't doing anything. By now they should have noticed them and they weren't attacking or anything. The intruders reached the base of pride rock and stood in front of the lionesses. Their pride consisted of at least 26 lionesses, a majority of them being adolescents. That was 2 times as many lionesses then they had.  
  
"Who are you?" Sarabi demanded  
  
The lioness who stood in front answered, " My name is Raziya, and this is my daughter, Zalika." she said as she put her paw behind the cub's head. The cub looked just as unfriendly as her mother. Her smile wasn't a pretty one it was more of a menacing one.  
  
"What is your purpose here?" Sarabi inquired .  
  
Raziya didn't answer. Instead she moved her head to where she could see behind Sarabi and smiled. Sarabi looked behind her and saw Scar coming down from pride rock.  
  
"Scar what's going on?" Sarabi asked sternly. Scar walked past her and approached Raziya and nuzzled her and she returned the gesture. He then looked at the group behind her and bowed his head and they bowed their heads in return.  
  
"Will someone please tell us what is going on?" Sarabi demanded  
  
Scar looked back at the pride and Said, " I want you to meet your new queen."  
  
"What!!" the lionesses said in unison shocked. How could she just come in and decide she wanted to be queen. Sarabi was their queen, not her.  
  
" Are you questioning my judgment?" he roared. Zaila stepped up and spoke, " how could you have a queen already. You never told us you had a mate. What about Sarabi?"  
  
"What is it to you? And what about her?" Scar replied. Zaila was about to reply but Sarabi interrupted her, " No. I had my time with Mufasa. HE was my king. If I have to abdicate I will."  
  
"But-"  
  
" You will honor Raziya as your queen…and my daughter, Zalika as the heir to the throne." The cubs cringed. They didn't like the looks of this new princess. Safara approached Zalika and tried to introduce herself to the "princess" but Zalika just looked at her and then replied " I don't play with cubs." Safara stepped back and started mumbling to herself as she walked back. Scar laughed and found this cute and then nuzzled his daughter.  
  
"From now on. Raziya and Zalika will sleep with me in the royal chamber. The hyenas will stay in the larger den and our new members will stay in the other den."  
  
"What about us?" Sarabi inquired  
  
" Sarabi, you and the others will sleep in the other smaller caverns."  
  
"But we all can't fit in those little caverns." She protested while the others nodded in agreement.  
  
" Would you rather sleep outside?" Raziya asked sarcastically.  
  
The others gasped. How dare she talk back to Sarabi. Sarabi was angered by this but controlled herself.  
  
"take it or leave it." scar said.  
  
Sarabi did not address him. Instead she turned around and motioned for the other lionesses to follow her up to he other caverns. Zalika was going to like it here. Cubs to tease and they couldn't do anything about it. She decided to take this advantage and take somewhat of an "initiation". Kobe who was the smallest of the cubs was sitting down terrified through the whole confrontation lagged behind a little and didn't notice that the others had got up. As Kobe followed Amani, waited for him to catch up. Zalika padded behind him and extended her claws and caught Kobe by his tail. Kobe yelped in pain as she sank her claws into his tail. Amani heard Kobe yelp and ran back.  
  
" Why don't you pick on someone your own size?".  
  
While Kobe scrambled away Amani stayed behind and continued to growl at Zalika. This angered Scar. No one was going to fight with his daughter. He got in front of Zalika and roared as he swiped at Amani, grazing a part of his left cheek.. But for some reason Amani was not phased by the small injury. He stayed snarling even though he wasn't snarling at her any more. Scar tried to attack Amani but as he lunged at him he was knocked out of the way by a strong paw. When he looked up he saw that it was Zaila who was growling angrily trying to protect her son. This angered Scar even more and as he got up he swiped Zaila across the face which sent her slamming to the ground. This made Amani even angrier then before. While the other lionesses ran over to Zaila to help her up, Amani with all his strength attacked Scar. Although he put all his own young strength into the skirmish, and that scar wasn't the best built lion in the world, he still couldn't take on Scar. Scar eventually got the upper hand and defeated Amani. Amani accepted defeat and before Scar could attack again he ran out toward the gorge, while his mother watched helplessly as her son ran away knowing that if he returned scar would kill him. After it was over the lionesses took Zaila to the other caverns to comfort her while the newcomers watched with unfeeling eyes and made their way into the den. Scar watched Amani run away and called shenzi, Banzai and Ed to his side.  
  
"I want you to follow him. Take some more hyenas with you. He's going to the gorge and he knows better then to come back. Chase him out as you did Simba and then kill him far away from the pridelands."  
  
The hyenas rallied a few others and fallowed Amani. Sure enough Amani went to the gorge. He went to say goodbye to Simba and Mufasa. He knew he couldn't go back. If he did he would be killed if not by scar then by the hyenas. But he didn't want to leave everybody else there. The cubs, his mother, the lionesses, it all hurt to think about them being under Scar's rule. then he remembered what Sarafina told him  
  
"If you ever need anything come find us. Head out east and passed the hills. You should find us there.".  
  
'That's it!! he thought. he could go find Sarafina and Nala and stay with them for a while. When got older he would come back and challenge Scar. He knew he was no Mufasa but any king was better then Scar. That's what he would do. He was just about turn around and get out of the gorge when he heard some growling behind him. He looked behind him and saw 8 hyenas coming toward him. He knew he couldn't take them all on so to stall them he swiped at one of the hyenas and knocked him down and backpedaled a little to get a head start. But this did not stall the rest as he thought it would. Instead they started to chase after him and the down hyena got up and followed. They couldn't chase him out through the same way they had Simba because the path Simba had took had crevices where he was small enough to escape. Amani was bigger and scar had told them to kill him away from the pridelands. So they chased him out of the gorge first so instead of having him go through the walls of the gorge to get to the desert, they would chase him up and out of the gorge and into the desert by the mainland. As he was running Amani notice that he had never been this far before as the more he ran the further he got. Another thing: he was going the wrong way: he was going west not east, and from what he knew all that was to the west was nothing but desert. But he couldn't afford to turn back now. The hyenas were still chasing him and Scar would for sure have hyenas scattered throughout the pridelands making sure he didn't come back. The hyenas were starting to pull back a little. The first one to do so were Shenzi, Banzai, and ed. They had chased him far enough to where if he ran any further he would be dead in the middle of nowhere. The others stopped and asked why they had stopped, " I am not following him out all the way out there! You guys can go ahead and die out there for all I care. But I prefer to stay here and live." Shenzi said.  
  
"Well you won't be alive much longer if Scar finds out we didn't get rid of the punk." one of the other hyenas added. Banzai intervened "The keyword there is "if". IF he finds out. Besides you honestly think he will survive out there. A lion can't make out there with no meat. He'll die anyway." " You better be right, if your not your on your own with him." "Trust us this will work." Watching from afar Rafiki watched as Amani ran away. He put his hand to his head. Ever since Scar had become king Rafiki hadn't been to pride rock. He wanted nothing to do with Scar he knew his intentions were not good. And now the next closest thing they had to a challenge for Scar was leaving. And now things would be harder with more pride members to care for.  
  
"Tis' is not good." Rafiki said to himself. " But Somting' tells me... he'll be back." 


	10. Chapter 9

Miles away from pride rock and Further away from Nala, Simba lived with his new found friends in total bliss. While the bug eating situation wasn't the best part of his day, Simba was able to catch a few mice now and then and occasionally some fruit. Life with Timon and Pumbaa was great. He ate when he wanted, slept when he wanted, and didn't have a care in the world. Other then occasional homesickness Simba felt right at home with people like him, outcasts. But Simba never forgot who he was and where he was from. Although it had only been a few months since his father's death it felt like years. Almost every night he had nightmares of that day. He would wake up from his nightmares breathing heavily and started crying. He would sleep away from Timon and Pumbaa, so he wouldn't wake tem up. They noticed something was wrong but if it bothered Simba so much that he wouldn't talk to them they would ask. Simba missed his home so much though. His mother, his friends, even Nala: they all just hurt to think about. Especially Nala. He hadn't seen her in so long and now he probably never would. He wondered if she missed him, he knew he missed her. Maybe one day they would see each other but not yet. But on the other hand he had his new friends. Although they wouldn't totally replace Amani, Diallo, Essian, Kobe, Taraja, and the others, he enjoyed their company. And they were lots of fun too. Timon , Pumbaa, and Simba spent their days goofing around, playing mango football, hunter and the hunted, and other different games. It was fun but he knew he couldn't be as rough with Timon and Pumbaa as he was with the other lion cubs. He missed having them around but he would just have to be careful with Timon and Pumbaa.  
Timon and Pumbaa liked having Simba around too. It was fun having a kid around, despite all the hardships of parenting. And when he got bigger Simba could help chase off any predators that came around once in a while. He made them feel like kids as well. It was a little tiring at times since Simba had a little more energy but it was fun. They taught Simba all the basics: belching, bug hunting, how to sleep in a hammock, how to swing on the vines, bug eating contests, and all about Hakuna Matata. Life was great and nothing was going to change that. One morning, better yet mid-morning, Simba was feeling exceptionally lazy and decided not to get up from bed for a while. Not that anyone would mind. Timon and Pumbaa woke up and found Simba still sound asleep. "Awww he looks so cute. And you wanted to leave him all alone in that desert." Pumbaa commented.  
  
"yeah well. Give him a few years. He won't be so small and cute then…" Timon replied " one fight with him and BAM it's a holiday ham and a small squeaky toy for us."  
  
"Awww come on Timon. Simba would never hurt us. He's our friend."  
  
"I know buddy I'm just thinkin' out loud a little. Lets go find some grub."  
  
"Now your talkin'!" After they gorged themselves on a couple of caterpillars they went for a walk in attempt to walk off the food. Around to the area where they had found Simba half dead about three months earlier. Continuing on with their walk Timon looked up to see that there were vultures circling in the air. They knew what that meant.  
  
"you thinkin what I'm thinkin?" Timon asked mischievously. " Uh...it's getting really hot out here?" Pumbaa answered. Timon rolled his eyes and hit Pumbaa on his head. "NO ya mook! Look!" he said pointing to the vultures in the sky. Pumbaa looked up "oh….OHHHH! Alright lets go!" Timon and Pumbaa headed toward.  
The pair headed toward the flying creatures and stood still for a moment and waited until they started gathering around the carcass. The first vulture went down followed by several others. After about ten seconds and all the vultures were gathered around the carcass Timon and Pumbaa charged, head butting and back kicking any bird that came with in their reach.  
  
"Heh heh…you'd think they would learn by now." Timon chuckled.  
  
"Uh…Timon…?" Pumbaa asked nervously.  
  
"Yeah buddy?"  
  
"You might want to take a look at this. I know it still alive." Pumbaa said nervously.  
  
"What is it? Oh no not another one!" Timon chided. "Where are these guys coming from?" In front of him lay another lion. But this time it wasn't a cub like Simba. this one was a little bit bigger which made Timon and Pumbaa a little uncomfortable. Pumbaa tried to pick the lone lion up with his nose when Timon stopped him.  
  
"whoa whoa whoa! What are ya doin? We already have a lion what do we need another one for?" Timon exclaimed  
  
Pumbaa put the juvenile cub back down on the floor. "Come on Timon! This one isn't that big. Maybe he can be a playmate for Simba so he can have one of his own to play around with." Pumbaa suggested.  
  
"Yeah. And then he and Simba become best friends, Simba learns from him and then we're back on the menu." Timon retorted.  
  
"Well that's true but I would feel guilty if we just left the poor kid here." Pumbaa said pleadingly. Just as Timon was going to answer Simba approached them with out them noticing.  
  
"Hey guys whatcha doin'?" Timon and Pumbaa jumped at the sound of his voice and scrambled in front f the body, trying to block it from Simba's view .  
"hey kid! What are you doin up this early?" Timon said faking a laugh.  
  
Simba cocked his head to the side and raised one eyebrow in confusion. "it's almost noon. What's wrong? What's behind -?"  
  
"uh…nothing." Pumbaa stammered.  
  
"Ugh…"a groan came from behind the nervous pair and they realized that the unconscious lion was waking up. They also knew that Simba noticed also.  
  
"Come on guys. What's goin on? Whoa." Simba pushed between Timon and Pumbaa and looked down at the fallen lion.  
  
"we found him a few minutes ago." Pumbaa explained.  
  
"well come on let's help him!" Simba stated  
  
Timon and Pumbaa through each other a uneasy look, but complied. Pumbaa gently picked up the lion and took him to a small nearby pool. While Timon splashed water on the lion's face, Simba went into the jungle to find a few rodents for the lion. After a few splashes the lion regained full conciseness and moaned a little.  
  
"Awww damn, what happened?" the stranger asked. Timon backed away still not sure what to do with the situation. The lion struggled to sit up with his eyes still closed. Timon motioned for Pumbaa to talk to him, but Pumbaa just shook his and mouthed, no you do it. But to their surprise the stranger sensed their presence and spoke first.  
  
"Hey thanks for your help. Do you think you can tell me where I am?" as he said this he opened his eyes expecting to meet his rescuers face to face. But instead he was met by a…meerkat?…and a warthog? "What the-?" But before he could finish his thought Timon interrupted.  
  
"please don't eat us! We helped you! We saved you from the vultures! Pleassse!" Now the lion was confused. He was about to respond when he heard a voice coming from the bushes.  
  
"Guys! Is he up yet?" Out of the bushes came a small lion cub with a few small field mice dangling from his mouth. Simba came into the clearing and saw the lion sitting up. He then noticed that Timon was on his knees.  
  
"what's goin on?" Simba asked with a full mouth. The lion stared at Simba in awe. 'this kid looks just like Simba! But it couldn't be…could it?' he thought. Simba finally felt the stare of the lion and looked him in the face. Then his jaw dropped releasing the already dead mice on the ground.  
  
"Amani?"  
  
"Simba? No it can't be. Your supposed to be dead."  
  
"Amani what are you doing here?" Simba asked excitedly.  
  
"It's a long story. But what are you doin' here?" Simba grimaced and looked down at his paws. He wasn't quite ready to talk to anybody about the stampede. He had even told Timon and Pumbaa yet. Amani looked at him for a while and then understood Simba's uneasiness.  
  
"Oh… I understand if you don't want to tell me right now. So who are your friends?" Amani asked. Simba smiled a little and looked up again.  
  
"This is Timon and Pumbaa. They took me in and have been taken care of me ever since I came here. They helped you too."  
  
"Oh well thanks. I guess I owe ya one. And just for the record I wasn't going to eat you."  
  
"your welcome kid!" Pumbaa exclaimed. Timon stepped forward rubbing the back of his neck uneasily.  
  
"So uhhh…are ya gonna stay here…for very long?" he asked.  
  
"Well…" Amani asked unsure of what to say. He didn't want to be a third wheel.  
  
" Please Timon!?? Let Amani stay. He won't eat ya." Simba pleaded.  
  
"Sure he can stay!" Pumbaa said.  
  
"Just don't try anything funny, kid." Timon added.  
  
"Alright!!" Amani and Simba Shouted in unison.  
  
"come on I'll show you where you can sleep." Simba said tugging at Amani's arm.  
  
"Okay! Thanks guys!" Amani shouted as he followed Simba in to the bushes.   
Simba, Timon and Pumbaa, and Amani spent the whole day together. Timon and Pumbaa told Amani about Hakuna Matata and he was starting to like the idea of it  
  
"So why did you leave?" Simba asked Amani.  
  
Simba lay down on a nearby boulder, while Amani worked with a bushel of elephant ears.  
  
"Umm…I was…Banished."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I was banished. I can't go back." Amani said shamefully.  
  
'wow. Maybe he'll understand if I tell him what happened' simba thought.  
  
"So what happened?" Simba asked hesitantly  
  
Amani paused a while before speaking. "Scar had a pride outside pride rock. Since he's king now he thought it would be great to combine his pride with ours."  
  
"uncle Scar had his own pride. Why didn't I know anything about it?"  
  
Amani scoffed, "Hell if I know. Oh sorry. I kinda picked that up from the hyenas."  
  
"It's okay. I hear Timon all the time. Wait…Hyenas?" Simba asked. " What are you doing with hyenas?"  
  
"Well Scar also thought it would be great if the hyenas lived with us too."  
  
"Why?"  
  
" I repeat. Hell if I know. Anyway well when the other pride came in our pride didn't like it. Scar threw us out of our cave and all of us had to move into the other little caverns which would be impossible. After we met the other pride and scar dismissed us, scar's daughter, Zalika-"  
  
"Whoa wait! Daughter? I have a cousin?" Simba asked somewhat excitedly and at the same time confusedly.  
  
" Yeah she's the same age as me but don't get excited. She's the reason I was exiled. As we were getting ready to go up to the caves, Zalika decided to pick on Kobe. She hurt him. She sank her claws into his tail and I heard him cry. When I turned around I saw what she was doing and I pushed her away from him and yelled at her. Scar got angry at me and tried to hit me, but I stayed growling. He tried to hit me again but my mother got in the way and hit him back. Then he attacked my mom, and there was no way I was going to let him get away with that. So I attacked him. He beat me though so I ran toward the gorge. I knew he would kill me if I went back so I decided I would leave. But I wasn't planning on coming here. I was going to stay with Sarafina and Nala-" Simba's ears perked up and he interrupted again,  
  
"Nala! How is she?!! Did she ask about me?"  
  
"She came to visit us a few months ago. You were already gone of course. She cried so much when she found out you were gone. It hurt for me to tell her. But since your not dead maybe you'll have a chance to see her again someday. When they visited and they saw what was going on. They said that if we ever needed anything they would help us. But when I was about to leave the hyenas came after me and chased me out toward the desert. They were to gutless to chase me any further so they stopped but I just kept running, and now I'm here."  
  
"Whoa. Are you ever going back?" Simba asked.  
  
Amani lay down In the nest he made with the elephant ears and got comfortable, "Yup when I get older I'm goin back to help. And now that you're here, we can go back together and get scar out of there. Right?"  
  
"Yeah." Simba said hesitantly. Now he wasn't so sure if he wanted to tell Amani why he left. At least when Amani left he did something good. He left because of something bad.  
  
"Well I'm bushed. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."  
  
"Night." Simba responded.  
  
"Oh and Simba. It's good to see ya buddy." Amani said before he put his head down.  
  
"Same here pal." Simba responded.  
  
Amani fell soundly asleep. But Simba couldn't sleep. He was too excited and worried at the same time. He got up and walked to a ledge where He was worried about his friends, his mom, and his home. From what Amani told him things were not doing good. He could only hope he would be able to gain the strength in the next few years so he and Amani could straighten things out. But he was excited at the same time. He was happy because he knew Nala was thinking about him. He missed her so much. But it hurt that he wasn't there to see her. And now she thought he was dead. What if he did meet her again what would he say? Well he would worry about that later, right now he was satisfied knowing that she was okay and looked forward to the day when he would see her again. 


	11. Chapter 10

Three years passed and slowly but surely all cubs on both sides of the savanna and desert grew bigger. At sunrise coalition, Nala was becoming quite the hunter. She would join her mother everyday on the hunt and would try to bring down a kill of her own. Kaseko grew bigger also. He showed the beginnings of a mane, had taught himself how to hunt small prey, and all in all did pretty good for himself, for a lion who was orphaned. The lionesses watched over him but no one ever took full responsibility. They still felt something was wrong with the boy but never touched the subject. Kaseko still never talked much to the others, but he still had a fairly good relationship with Nala, a real one. Not one that he was acting, but he honestly kind of liked Nala, despite his hatred for her father. For some reason, he didn't understand, he at times found himself to be envious when the other male cubs, Anwar and Jabilo, would play games with Nala. She found nothing wrong but he didn't want them to play with her, each time he saw them playing together, even if there were other females playing also, he would make up an excuse to pull Nala out. This marriage thing probably wouldn't be so bad. There was just one thing that was in the way. Nala enjoyed Kaseko's company. He helped her not feel so down on herself about Simba's death. But she knew that Kaseko would never fully replace Simba. But she did care a great deal about Kaseko. She loved that he had a sort of darkness about him. Not an evil one but a mysterious one, one that she wouldn't mind trying to understand. Despite the countless warnings that the other cubs gave her, when her mother gave he the news of the betrothal, she was ecstatic. she couldn't be happier. She really liked him, but there was still something that was bothering her. He never really got along with her father. With the news of the betrothal in place Tauna decided that he would teach Kaseko what it means to be king since he had no father figure. But these lessons always left Tauna worrying about the well being of his daughter. Whenever Kaseko was away from Nala and with her father he always argued with him. They would disagree on almost every issue. Whenever there was a problem within the pride Tauna would address the issue and then bring it to Kaseko's attention to see how he would handle it. Kaseko always gave answers that were way two extreme for the situation. And whenever Tauna tried to correct him, Kaseko would continue to argue until his point was proven. This irritated the king but he would do what he could since he knew what he meant to Nala, and tried to understand Kaseko. He couldn't.  
  
One day, as dusk approached, the lioness had just finished a successful hunt and after they ate headed back home. Nala stayed back, and sat on top of a boulder thinking. She watched as the sky went from blue to a hue of orange and pink. Even though it had been three years she still mourned Simba's death. She still admonished herself for not visiting when she had the chance. She sniffled as a few tears rolled down her face. Sensing Nala's sorrow, Sarafina joined her daughter's side.  
  
"Nala, are you alright?" Sarafina asked, nuzzling her daughter.  
  
"I'm fine mother. It's just…," Nala paused and sighed, "I miss Simba and Mufasa so much. It's as if it just happened yesterday."  
  
"I know dear. I know it still hurts but you have Kaseko now. You said yourself he's your new best friend. Simba would want you to move on. He's probably very happy for you."  
  
"Kaseko will never fully replace Simba! Yes I care for him but he's not Simba. I just wish I could see him again. I would want him at my betrothal announcement to the kingdom, my marriage ceremony. I would want him there like best friends should, and I at his. But now I can't and I didn't take the chance to see him when I did." Nala sobbed. She raised a paw to her face to wipe away the tears. Like any mother, Sarafina hated to see Nala crying like this. Then sara had an idea.  
  
"Nala remember when we visited pride rock?" Sara asked.  
  
"yes." Nala sniffled.  
  
"Well remember when we found Amani and we thought he was talking to himself, but he said he was talking to Simba. Maybe you should do that. It would make you feel closer and maybe Simba is still waiting for you talk to him. You won't see him physically but you can feel him in spirit."  
  
"Maybe your right mom. We will always be best friends even though he's not here. I'm sure he forgives me." Nala replied hopefully.  
  
"your welcome dear. Are you coming?" Sarafina asked as she rose to walk.  
  
"Not yet. I need to do something first." Sara smiled and nodded and walked on home.  
Nala looked up at the sky and saw that the stars were exceptionally brilliant tonight. Maybe Simba was there, or Mufasa. A cool wind blew past her. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt something, like a surge of unseen power, and somehow she could tell it was not Simba. She opened her eyes and still felt aura of power. "Mufasa?" she said. A cool wind blew again, rustling the savanna grass. This was a start she cared for Mufasa like a second father. She could talk to him. She opened her mouth talk but she was lost for words. She was upset now. She couldn't even talk to the person who cared for her and who she owed so much to. She sat there an realized the melody the sounds of the night made. The wind that was blowing, chirps of crickets, the grass rustling, trickle of water on pebbles from a small stream, and the chirp of small bird nestling in to their nests. Together they helped her feel a little at ease and she was able to put her feelings into words.  
  
How difficult it is to try and say good-bye How I miss you. Who will make me laugh the way that you used to how I miss you  
  
You live in all my thoughts I Want to see you but I cannot This good-bye burns inside and there's no telling how much I've cried how I miss you  
  
Never will I forget What would I would give to see you here with my eyes.  
I Want to hear your voice but I don't and it makes cry how I miss you  
  
But now that your gone,  
I feel as if I can't go on,  
My actions created the guilt I hold,  
and there is nothing that will console me.  
I'm sorry  
  
"I'm sorry." She repeated as she quietly sobbed a little bit more before leaving. A strong draft of a sort of numinous wind blew around her and carried her words across the savanna, the desert, and to the ears of a young rogue prince in the jungle.  
  
Simba lay on a small rock overlooking a pond. He looked into the pond and stared at his reflection. He had changed a lot in three years. His mane was starting to grow out, he was bigger, and all the horseplay with Timon, Pumbaa, and Amani had caused his muscles to build up. Even though he looked a little different he was still the same Simba on the inside. He got homesick once in a while though even with Amani there. He always worried about the pride, debating whether or not he should ever return. Amani had his heart set on returning. Amani could return already if he wanted to. He was already mature enough to take on Scar, but one lion was not enough to take on Scar, his new pride, and the hyenas. Amani was already physically mature. His voice deepened his full mane graced his head which sat atop his muscular body. The years of playing mango football with Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba made his muscles fill out his fur which had lost it's cubby softness. He was pretty much an adult just not intellectually. He was still a cub at heart but he knew when to be serious. Amani could have very well left and to take over the throne, but he didn't. He wanted Simba to be able to take his rightful place as king even if that meant waiting three more years till Simba turned sixteen and was physically mature. And besides if he waited; Diallo, Kobe, and Essian would already be able bodied also and that would be more strength on their defense. But until that time Simba and Amani would have to stay in the jungle away from the pride.  
  
"I wonder what everyone is doing right now?" Simba thought aloud. It was already quite late in the evening. The others were already asleep. Simba looked up at the night sky. He thought about his father. Where was he? He Said he would always be with him. But he wasn't. if only he could have a sign, something to tell him Mufasa was there. Simba rested his head on his and stared off into space. A cool breeze passed rustling the grass. Then he heard…a voice. A female voice that was vocalizing. Simba stood up and looked around and saw nobody. There were no females around here, not even any other animals. And the animals that did come through usually came and left or were a meal for Amani and Simba. And as suddenly as it started the voice was gone. "Probably just the wind." Simba concluded.  
  
He lay back down and looked around without moving his head. The voice started again. He looked down at the water and noticed that rings were appearing in the water. The rings then turned into small waves and in them a golden brownish form started to materialize. He sat up and lowered his head near the water. He stared at the form until it became clearer. He pulled his head back when he saw a face other then his own in the reflection. A young lioness was staring back at him smiling.  
  
"Nala?" he whispered. The reflection stayed smiling. He smiled a little bit but then the reflection started to fade.  
  
"I'm sorry." said the voice. Then a breeze came again and the lioness was gone. Simba pulled back and shook his head. He even scratched himself with his claw to make sure he was awake. The image stuck in his mind and he went to find Amani. Amani was fast asleep in a misshapen tree when Simba found him. Simba jumped on the tree and tugged at Amani's ear.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey what's the big idea. Why ain't you asleep yet!" Amani exclaimed.  
  
"Sorry, but I just had a vision!" Simba exclaimed.  
  
"Sure ya did. Your just tired."  
  
"I'm Serious. I was at the pond and was about to go to sleep when I heard this voice singing, but there was no one around. So I lay back down and looked in the water and I saw a lioness's face."  
  
Amani became interested and sat up and asked, "What did she look like?"  
  
"She had greenish-bluish eyes, and her fur was a creamy sort of color."  
  
"Kinda like Nala had?"  
  
"yeah! As a matter of fact I thought it was Nala too. I said her name and she just smiled at me. Then before her face faded away she said "I'm sorry". but for what?"  
  
Amani thought for a while. What he described sounded a lot like Nala and she was the only green eyed lioness he knew. But why would she say I'm sorry? And why would she appear in such a way unless she was…dead. "No that can't be."  
  
"What? you don't think it was Nala."  
  
"No. actually I think it was Nala but why would she come to you like that?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well Nala didn't come to you physically, she came to you umm in spirit."  
  
"yeah so what's your point?"  
  
"My point is that Nala had an out of body experience. The only way that can happen is if-"  
  
"Your dead!" Simba exclaimed, proud that he figured out the puzzle, but then frowned when he realized the meaning of his own words. "No. Nala can't be dead. Y- you said she came to visit you. So she can't be dead, right?"  
  
"Yeah,But that was three years ago. I've been here since then. But calm down there has to be another explanation. Maybe you were dreaming."  
  
"No!! I was awake I know I was." Simba stuck out his arm to show Amani where he scratched himself on purpose. "Look! I even cut myself to see if I was dreaming or not."  
  
"Well, there has to be another explanation." Amani insisted.  
  
"but you said yourself the only way she could have done that was if she were dead!"  
  
"No you said "dead".  
  
Simba was getting nervous. He started pacing back and forth, trying to think of another reason.  
  
"Will ya stop doin' that! It's annoying me!"  
  
"Sorry look I'm tired. I'm gonna go to bed. Seeya in the morning."  
  
"okay, we'll figure it out in the morning."  
  
"No don't even worry about it. Maybe I was dreaming. Who knows." Simba walked off towards the pond to go to sleep. He knew he wasn't dreaming, he just didn't want Amani to think he was going crazy. He prayed that nothing happend to Nala. 


	12. Chapter 11

It was quite early in the morning when Nala woke up, not even dawn yet. She sat up in her cave and rubbed her head and thought about the dream she had been having a lot lately. In it she was like two people: herself and watching herself. She stood on the top of their pride rock and was joined by Kaseko and he sat down beside her a nuzzled her. She returned the gesture but then a white flash of light comes and she finds herself in the den of their home and her father walks in Talking with another male but it's not anyone from their pride. The new male looks at her and smiles then bows his head. She repeats the motion and finds him familiar in a sense. The light came again and she finds herself standing behind the new male as he squares off with Kaseko. As if he was protecting her from him. Kaseko lashes out and the dream stops and Nala wakes up. Nala had been having the same dream a lot lately. As a matter of fact it was the fourth time this week.  
"Its just a dream. Kaseko would never hurt me like that. Anyone for that matter." she said to herself. She got up and stretched her legs and walked outside. It was a little chilly and still dark as she made her way down to the water hole but she saw someone was already there.  
  
"Hey Jabilo!" she yelled. Shocked Jabilo whirled around to face her.  
  
"Shut up. You'll wake up everybody. Why aren't you asleep?" he whispered  
  
"I'm not tired anymore. Why aren't you asleep?"  
  
"Same reason." There was a short pause after until Jabari broke the silence. "Hey can I ask ya something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Why do ya like Kaseko so much, can't ya see there is something up with him?"  
  
"Why do you care so much? Everyone tells me that there is something wrong with him. Tell me what it is. I'm the one whose gonna marry him not you, so stay out of it!" Nala demanded.  
  
"Sorry. Excuse me for caring. Would you not marry him if your father said no?"  
  
"Why would he? He likes Kaseko."  
  
" Does Kaseko like your dad?"  
  
"Of course. The little arguments they have are nothing. Daddy just doesn't understand him. He doesn't take time out to try to."  
  
"Whatever." Jabilo said. There was another short silence until once again Jabilo spoke. "Can I ask ya something else?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What was your other betrothed like you know the one from Pride rock?" Nala felt a ball in her throat. Just the thought of Simba still made her uneasy and upset. Jabilo quickly realized this and quickly countered, "you don't have to answer if you don't want."  
  
"No it's okay. Simba was… very special to me. Although I may not have shown it much. I guess you ever know what you have till it's gone."  
  
"You don't have to answer this either but…if you saw him again, now, would you trade Kaseko for him?"  
  
"I don't know. If I saw him I would probably be to ashamed to even talk to him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Nala sighed, " Before Simba died and after I came here, my mother would always ask me if I wanted to go see him." Nala stopped because she could tell that she was going to start crying again and then she continued. "I always said no and that we could go after the drought passed. When we went I found out that Simba had died the day the drought started and that he had been waiting for me to go home." Nala started crying as Jabilo nuzzled her trying to console her. He felt guilty now since he kept asking her questions.  
  
"Maybe you need some closure." Jabilo suggested  
  
"What do you mean?" Nala sniffled.  
  
"Don't get mad at me or anything but I've walked in on you talking to yourself countless times by the pond. At least I thought you were talking to your self. But now I know why."  
  
"So what do you mean, "closure"? "  
  
"Maybe you would feel better if you went to your old pride to visit. Avoiding them for the rest of your life won't make you feel any better. And I know you had other friends there besides Simba you need to see them at least. You can't just pretend they never existed."  
  
"You know I think your right, Jabari. I still have Sarabi, Amani, Taraja, Diallo, and everyone else. I'm not going to stall anymore. I'm gonna go right now!"  
  
"Now?? What do I tell your dad?"  
  
"Tell him I went for a walk in the jungle like always. I'll be back by tonight."  
  
"You can't go by yourself. Do you know what your dad would do to me I he knew that you were off by yourself and I knew? And then I'll be getting the third degree from Kaseko. Hell no. I'm goin too!!"  
  
"Fine let's go before anybody sees us." Nala and Jabilo took off in the darkness of the early morning and headed for pride rock.  
  
Back at pride rock everyone was sound asleep. Everyone except Diallo, Kobe, and Essian. They couldn't sleep knowing that there where hyenas in their home although they had known this for the past three years, it bothered them a lot more now. Number one: Amani was gone. He had been gone for three years and no one knew what happened to him. He would have already been mature enough to challenge Scar, but he wasn't there. Number two: since they were getting more physically mature, Scar started to get nervous. He would see how they would play tackle and how they would attack any hyenas that came too close. He also knew that he wasn't very popular with them either. Till one day His daughter Zalika had an idea. She didn't like those young males much either, they were a nuisance to her, she suggested to Scar that he banish them out of the pride, before they could cause any more trouble. He complied and he, some of his lionesses, and a few hyenas chased them out of pride rock and out of the boundaries. The three young males were prideless now. They would have to fend for themselves. They knew that if Mufasa had been there he wouldn't have banished them out. If Simba were still around they would be the pride males when they came of age and aid Simba in his royal duties and help guard the pridelands. Since during Mufasa's generation he and Scar were the only male cubs born, there was only a king and one pride male, although Scar didn't help with much anyhow. Scar, the lionesses, and the hyenas chased them toward the desert. Essian did not like this one bit he could hear the real pride Landers roaring back at pride rock wishing luck to the new rogues. He stopped dead in his tracks. Why was he running he thought. He's running from his home, his family and why all because some little bitch didn't like him. Kobe and Diallo saw that he stopped and stopped running and saw that he was charging at the hyenas. Scar and the other lionesses had stopped their part of the chase and left the rest up to the hyenas. About ten hyenas had come along and piled up on Essian. Kobe and Diallo ran over to help, knocking hyenas off of their friend then biting and slashing at them while they were down. By the time the skirmish was overall ten hyenas were mortally wounded some falling and dying where they stood. Diallo and Kobe had nothing but a few scratches that could heal easily, but Essian had a considerably large gash on his arm that would be able to heal but most likely leave a permanent mark.  
  
Now what. They were in the desert and could go either way out further west although there was nothing but desert. They had heard of some mysterious jungle that lay at the end of the desert, with beautiful waterfalls and some of the sweetest fruit one would ever taste. But they weren't willing to take the risk and what if it was just a myth. Or they could go back home they would just have to lay low for a while. Their territory didn't end directly at the edge of the desert and there were a few miles between the pridelands edge and the desert that were nobody's land. They could stay there. They would travel around the perimeter of the pridelands from the west side to the east in order to prevent any suspicion. And they couldn't allow any of their lionesses to know o their presence for fear that they might blow their cover. So that was their plan.  
  
Currently they were on the east side. They spent about a week at each side and had just arrived the day prior. They would eat small rodents or any stray animal that was separated from the already depleted herds. And if any hyena spotted them they would have no choice but to hunt it down before they got to Scar. They had become quite efficient at that. The sunlight was starting to peek up slightly above the horizon creating a ridge of glowing light where it appeared that the earth met the sky. From miles away they could hear Scar's wake up roar. He was probably telling their mothers and friends to get hunting for his wife and HIS hyenas, while his little daughter sat and taunted the younger girls about not being able to hunt fast enough. Telling them they were worthless and are a waste of fur. Essian paced back and forth out of boredom and anger. Although he didn't enjoy having to hunt with his mother, sister, and the others he would feel better knowing that they were okay and that he could witness that.  
  
"Damn!!"  
  
"What now Essian?" Diallo exasperated  
  
"Right now we should be in our cave sleeping, not staying out here like rogues. I'm gonna kill Scar for this you just watch." Essian replied angrily.  
  
"Yeah well, with your nagging nothing is gonna get any better. When we get older and challenge Scar you two can take him on. I just wanna get rid of Zalika. you guys can have the crown." kobe suggested  
  
"Man you can't attack a girl! We'll just banish her." Diallo stated.  
  
"What Girl!? Safara and Taraja are girls. I have no idea what Zalika, but she sure as hell ain't a girl."  
  
"I second that." Essian added.  
  
"Dang I'm starving. We shouldn't be hungry this early in the morning!" Diallo exclaimed.  
  
"Well, let's go see what we can find. Don't get your hopes up though." Essian said.  
The three rogues headed out further east in search of whatever they could find and on the look out for any stray hyenas. A few miles away headed towards them Nala and Jabilo almost reached their destination.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Jabari asked impatiently.  
  
"Honestly, I don't know. Everything looks so different. But I know we came the right way." Nala stated surveying the land. They had noticed a few miles back that the land was starting to look a little dead, but it was even more so now. They continued walking until Nala came to a stop.  
  
"What is it?" Jabilo asked  
  
"Pride Rock! I can see it! We're almost there." Nala exclaimed. Excitedly Nala ran ahead of Jabilo who was too tired from their journey there to run.  
  
"You go on ahead. I'll catch up." Jabilo panted. As Jabilo passed through the dry savanna grass he paused for a while to catch his breath. Nala was already pretty far up ahead, when he heard some rustling in the dry grass. He was standing perfectly still as he waited so it couldn't have been him. He continued walking again when suddenly a flash of golden fur tackled him to the ground. He snarled as he struggled to get up to defend himself when another form dodged at him knocking him to the ground. He was able to let out half a roar when he was cut short we once again he was knocked of his feet by yet another creature. Nala heard his short roar and ran back to see what was wrong. Jabilo found himself being held down by three lions: one holding him by the neck with one arm and covering his mouth with the other. While the other held down his legs. The other was standing in front of him. Jabilo was trying to tell him his purpose there but the lion's paw muffled his words.  
  
"Shut up!" the one in front of him whispered in a commanding tone. He was no older then Jabilo, none of them were for that matter, they must have been about the same age. Jabilo calmed down a bit but had an angry scowl on his face. "What are you doing here? Don't you know not to come into some ones land without being invited. You can get killed for that!!" the lion said, although he was bluffing since he knew currently they were in no ones land.  
  
"Kobe take your paw off his mouth and -"  
  
"Jabilo!!" Nala yelled as she finally reached him and found him being held by the lions. Nala's eyes widened as the lions turned and saw her coming up. This was last thing she needed a confrontation.  
  
"Uhhh…" Nala stammered she really had no idea of how to answer. The lion who was not on Jabilo crouched low and snarled at Nala, "What do you want?" he snarled. Diallo saw that she was scared and eased up a little on his grip on Jabilo.  
  
"Essian, don't scare her like that. Save that for Zalika." Diallo commented.  
  
"Essian?" Nala repeated. She studied the three young males their faces, their voices, and the way they were holding Jabari down. She remembered playing with Simba one day and then out of no where the other cubs came and tackled him to the ground and were holding him in the same fashion as they were Jabilo.  
  
"Diallo? Kobe?" She asked going out on a limb. The two lions released Jabilo and got to there feet and studied her.  
  
"Who are you?" Diallo asked.  
  
"Is it really you?! Oh my gosh this is so awesome. It's me Nala!" Then he spoke, "Nala what are you doing here?"  
  
" I came to visit you guys." she then turned her attention to Jabari who was still breathing heavily from being choked for so long. "Oh I'm sorry about Jabilo He's a friend of mine."  
  
"Well why didn't he say so?" Essian commented.  
  
"I did say so, but he had his paw on my mouth." Jabilo replied.  
  
"Sorry, but we better get away from here before we get caught." Kobe insisted.  
  
The five lions quietly walked away from the pridelands. When they were far away Nala asked, "Why are you guys all the way out here?"  
  
"Scar had us cast out. He thinks we're out in the desert. But we came back and so far I think he doesn't know we're here. " Essian explained.  
  
"But why and what about Amani?" Nala asked.  
  
"Hate to tell ya this but Amani has been gone for three years. We have no idea where he is. He picked a fight with Zalika and scar had him banished. He hasn't dropped by or anything."  
  
"Who's that?"  
  
"Scar's daughter."  
  
"Daughter?"  
  
"It's along story. You have enough time." Essian asked.  
  
"yeah. Go ahead." Jabilo answered. The three lions told them everything, the new pride members, Amani's exile, their exile, and their plans for the years to come.  
  
"Are you guys really gonna stay here. It looks as if it didn't change a bit since I was here last.": Nala asked after they were done with his story.  
  
"Your were hear before?"  
  
"Yeah. My mother and I we spoke to Amani and he was the one who told me about Simba." she replied with her head down.  
  
"Oh yeah we still miss him. And now Amani. He's out there somewhere though."  
  
" After we spoke to him we offered to let him stay with us if he ever needed anything. Maybe he's at my pride I just haven't found him yet. And you know since you guys are already banished do you guys want to come with us at least until things get better here. It would probably be safer."  
  
Jabilo intervened, "No, No, No. Tauna wouldn't allow it and what if some bad guy comes looking for them they are gonna attack us."  
  
"Jabilo. Shut up I didn't ask for your opinion." nala said.  
  
"Actually I think your friend is right. If something should happen we wouldn't want your pride to suffer with ours. And besides I think we should stay here and make sure nothing happens to our mothers and the rest of the pride. We'll keep your offer in mind though." Diallo proposed while the other two nodded in agreement.  
  
"alright then. We'll be there if you need anything. I wish I could stay longer but I need to get back before sundown. My pride doesn't know we're gone." Nala said.  
"well you better get going." Diallo said. The old friends nuzzled goodbye as Nala and Jabilo left. 


End file.
